x 
198 The American Antelope, or Prong Buck. [ April, 
They show a degree of intelligence scarcely surpassed by that 
of the dog, which would, no doubt, be greatly improved by suc- 
ceeding generations under the influence of domestication, should 
that be proved possible. One that was in the constant habit of 
following me soon became disgusted with the elk which chased 
him, so that whenever he saw me going towards the gate which 
opened into the elk park, he would place himself in front of me 
and try to push me back, and then look up imploringly, and if 
I turned away in another direction would gambol about in the 
greatest delight. In the wild state, at least, this animal is pos- 
sessed of inordinate curiosity, by which it is often beguiled within 
reach of the hunter. In this it resembles the barren-ground cari- 
bou, or our small Arctic reindeer. 
It is the swiftest of foot of all known quadrupeds, but it cannot 
continue the race at high speed for a great length of time, al- 
though for a few miles or a few minutes its escape seems like the 
flight of a bird. While it can make astonishing horizontal leaps, 
even from a standing position, it cannot or will not make high 
vertical leaps.’ I do not think that one under any circumstances 
could be driven over an obstruction a yard in height. 
Like that of all the deer tribe, its sight is defectjve, since it is 
unable to readily identify objects without the aid of motion. Its 
senses of smell and hearing are very acute, and on these it largely 
depends to warn it of the approach of enemies. 
The most interesting of all the characteristics of the goat ante- 
lope, that which most distinguishes it from all other ruminants, 
is its horns. These appendages are given to both male and fe- 
male, but on the latter they are scarcely more than rudimentary 
_ till they are fully adult, and even then they are quite insignifi- 
cant, varying from one to three inches in length at the uttermost. 
The horn of Antilocapra is hollow, like the horn of the goat and 
the ox, and it is deciduous, like the antler of the deer. When 
this peculiarity was announced, it was received with entire in- 
credulity by naturalists, and the world of science accepted the 
truth only after overwhelming evidence had been accumulated. 
The first allusion I find to the deciduous character of the horns 
of this antelope is in Audubon and Bachman’s Quadrupeds of 
North America, ii. 198, where we learn that the hunters at F 
Union told Mr. Audubon that the antelopes shed their horns, 
but the naturalist « managed to prove the contrary.” Again, on 
page 204, he returns to the subject, but says he was never able 
to ascertain that they do shed their horns. 
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