PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE 
the top of a bony core. Two months later the developed horn is about 
three inches long. In the following year the shedding takes place earlier, 
whilst the bony core remains and a small prong is developed on the outer 
case. 
We now know that the adult males shed their horns in October, and the 
new horn is already well developed, though somewhat soft, before the old 
ones are shed. Old bucks in prime condition often shed their horns as early 
as September. Mr W. McFadden, of Denver, shot at a buck antelope near 
Elkhead River, Colorado, in the autumn of 1894. It ran twenty yards and 
fell dead. On examining it he found that instead of good horns it only carried 
two small spikes. The mystery was explained when he found both of the 
complete horns (a large pair) lying on the ground where the animal fell. 
The largest known pair of antelope horns belong to Mr Evan Anderson, 
and were killed a few years ago in New Mexico. They measure 19| inches 
in length and are somewhat malformed. Mr Thompson-Seton records a 
remarkable head shot by Mr E. S. Dodge, near Oracle, Arizona, in 1897. 
The right horn is 17§ inches and has a spread of 15 inches. The best head 
in Europe I have seen is one I shot in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming 
in 1886, after an exciting chase lasting a week. It measured 17 inches in 
length and has the unusual width of 17| inches. The late Mr Otho Shaw 
possessed one of 17 inches, which I have seen, and Mr J. Whitaker has one 
of 17£ inches, which I have also examined. Dr Hornaday now considers 
that any horns exceeding 12 inches in length are large, but in the ’eighties 
measurements over 14 inches were quite common. Females, as a rule, are 
hornless, but I have seen several, and shot one, with horns over an inch 
and a half in length. 
In 1535 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado landed in Mexico and five years 
later set forth on his march northward as far as Kansas. He undoubtedly 
saw antelopes, although he gives no definite description of them. His 
lieutenant, Castaneda, mentions “ Sierbos, remendados de bianco ” (i.e. 
stags patched with white). Herrera (1601) mentions antelopes under their 
proper name, Berendos. In 1651 Hernandez describes the animal under 
the old Aztec name of Teuthlalmacame or Temamacame, and Berendos, 
the name by which it is still known in Mexico. 
By nature the prong -horned antelope is a native of the high and open 
plains of the west, although in Texas and California it was formerly 
found close to sea level. It has a preference for great flat prairies, or open, 
rolling, hilly lands, but in summer it is often found very high up in small 
385 
DDD 
