March 15, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



148 



A PAIR OF PRONG-HORN ANTELOPES (A. americana) Males. Drawn by the Author from his own Field Sketches. 



(The background adapted by the author from view in Hayden's Survey.) 



to the various grasses growing on the prairies, and never 

 eat the leaves of trees or any kinds of fruit. They are 

 very fond of the "soda licks" so abundant in the most of 

 the regions they inhabit, but will take common salt in 

 lieu thereof, when kept in a state of domestication, as 

 has been shown by Judge Caton. As pets they make ex- 

 tremely engaging ones, and in reality this is the only way 

 we can fully study them, and as the habits and morphology 

 of the species have as yet by no means been exhausted, it 

 is earnestly to be hoped that both science and private in- 

 dividuals will make constant endeavors to study them by 

 such methods. 



Every one who has hunted the antelope is aware of its 

 fleetness for a short spurt, how then it becomes fatigued 

 and even sometimes captured. While at Fort Laramie, 

 in the spring of 1877, 1 often' saw these animals run down 

 and taken with a good pack of gaunt and vigorous grey- 

 hounds. They make in the chase some truly wonderful 

 horizontal springs, but fail utterly when they come to 

 jump over anything over a yard or more high. During 

 the rutting season old bucks fight each other with all the 

 lusty courage of yore, while the females never lack the 

 necessary spirit in stoutly defending their young against 

 any danger that might threaten them. Hunters also 

 know how to take advantage of the almost insane 

 curiosity the animals show when approached by any 

 strange object on his feeding grounds. The endeavor to 

 inform himself on the salient points of a red flannel shirt, 

 has cost many and many an antelope its life, and I doubt 

 very much that any of them can tell a great deal about 

 that garment to-day. But my space is well nigh ex- 

 pended, and yet I 'feel I have hardly touched upon the 

 natural history of this, one of the most engaging animals 

 of our entire mammalian fauna, and one so strictly 

 American. Many parts of its structure still require the 

 careful investigation of the anatomist, and Caton in speak- 

 ing of its permanent preservation to students of the 

 future, and its domestication, says, "We have an abund- 



ance .of territory well adapted to this purpose, now lying- 

 waste, and a limited appropriation, to be expended under 

 the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, for instance, 

 whose expenditure of the funds committed to its charge 

 has been characterized by the soundest judgment and 

 highest integrity, might promise success. What would 

 we not give could we resuscitate some of those animals 

 which were formerly abundant on our continent but have 

 recently become extinct? The danger, if not the proba- 

 bility, is that our successors in the not distant future will 

 make the same reflection in reference to the bison and 

 prong buck, if not the moose and wapiti." This was 

 penned by the hand of a man who looks far over the field; 

 ten years ago the ink which committed those words to 

 paper, dried. I am not the only naturalist that seconds 

 this same sentiment to-day, and can point to the vast 

 stretches of our western territorial domains, now richly 

 bestrewn with the bleaching skeletons of our nearly ex- 

 tinct bison, to support the plea. 



Rahbits and Orchards.— A writer in the American 

 Garden recommends as a protection against rabbits "to 

 rub the bark of the trees thoroughly with blood or grease, 

 which makes it distasteful to the rabbits. They will not 

 touch a tree that has been treated in this way, for the 

 smell of fresh meat always terrifies this gentle and, in 

 many respects, innocent little creature. This also pre- 

 vents the mice from gnawing the bark from the trees, al- 

 though occasionally they will overcome their prejudice 

 for a taste of the tender bark. When the trunk of the 

 tree has been peeled, the wound is covered with a cloth 

 on which is spread a little grafting wax or cow manure. 

 This latter, besides excluding the air from the wound, 

 tends to heal the injured part, but if left on too long it 

 becomes dry and hard, where insects or larvse congre- 



\mm nni 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Fuh. Co. 



All readers who are interested in the protection of the 

 Yellowstone National Park, are invited to co-operate with 

 this journal in the endeavor to secure needed legislation. 

 Petitions will be sent to all who will undertake to have 

 them signed and forwarded to Washington. 



PILGRIMAGE OF THE SAGINAW CROWD. 



THE way of our getting back to Red Fork will be 

 described by both Brooks and Ed. You will readily 

 see that the stories do not jibe; one or the other is given 

 to romancing, and we are afraid it is "Section 37;" at any 

 rate he must stand the brunt of it. Ed's is given first, as 

 he, together with George and the writer, left ahead of the 

 others, consequently he must know more about what took 

 place. In fact, Brooks's little episode of the "night sen- 

 tinel" business at our camping ground that night will 

 probably be better relished by first hearing a truthful 

 account of the same. Ed writes as follows: 



On Monday we decided to make a start for home the 

 next day, and arranged that Billy, George and Ed should 

 start at noon with the lumber wagon and darky driver, 

 taking the baggage and dogs. George, thinking he would 

 rather ride in the saddle than the wagon, we concluded 

 to take a saddle horse along. As we would have a pretty 

 heavy load, we figured on making Buck Horn Creek, 

 about fifteen miles from the ranch, the first day. which 

 would leave us an easy drive of about thirty miles for 

 Wednesday. The rest of the party were to leave on 



