Saturday, November 12, 2011

Saturday encore ~ Honk your horn if you love wild animals

Enough about the porcupines. Let's switch the programming to something more pleasant – 
like the pronghorns who occasionally populate my pasture, which I pictured in this post from November 2010.

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Me: So, Snapper, what do you think of our new sculpture?

Snapper: I suppose it's ok if you're into that sort of thing.

And I'm definitely into that sort of thing, where thing equals found object. Our new sculpture is actually a Pronghorn horn. 
I found it right in the middle of the path as Smooch and I walked around the fenceline.

Buck photo courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish

Here are some fun facts about the Pronghorn that roam the range around the 7MSN:
•  The Pronghorn is the only animal in the world with branched horns (not antlers) and the only animal to shed its horns, as if they were antlers. The horn is a hollow sheath over a bony core that rises from the skull just above the eye. A buck's horns are up to 15 inches long. Each has a distinctive prong on the front, which gives the species its name.
• Pronghorn are found only on the plains and grasslands of North America.
• The Pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the world.  It can sprint as fast as 60 mph and can sustain a speed of 30 mph for miles.
• A Pronghorn herd travels as one, not leaving a single animal open to attack. The herd runs in perfect unison in a very tight, oval-shaped formation, much like a flock of birds.
• Pronghorn cannot leap fences, as deer can, so they crawl under fences instead.

Can I just say that my heart skips a beat every time I see a Pronghorn? I'll stop whatever it is I'm doing and just watch (and take pictures, if I'm lucky enough to be wearing my camera). It's a privilege to see something so wild and beautiful, and I will never tire of it.

Smooch: No way, no how am I posing with that thing on my head.

Clearly, Smooch and I do not have the same taste when it comes to art. We found this horn several weeks ago, and I've been meaning to show it to you. I had forgotten all about it until yesterday afternoon, when I looked out the living room window and noticed George and Alan chasing something across the pasture.


16 comments:

  1. Smooch's expressions are priceless!

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  2. Very interesting.... thanks for the info. Like you, I love to drag home all kinds of artifacts. Last picture is an 'especially' Good One....

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  3. That was very interesting, thankyou!!
    My computer screen is now nice and clean because I had to clean it off after I spit coffee on it seeing smoochies reaction to your new art aquisition ;-)

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  4. I didn't know all that cool stuff about Pronghorn! I love Snapper's colors! Smooch's face definitely brightened my morning!

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  5. Estella from Co.11/12/11, 6:55 AM

    WOW, you have quite the herd down there. We are lucky to have a dozen in any given herd around here. Very interesting facts, thank you for sharing. Hugs to the kids

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  6. that is one of my favorite shots of Smooch :)

    how breathtaking it must be to see them running in such unison like that...

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  7. Wow that was quite the stampede. I wonder if George and Alan thought they might have some new pals staying the night. Amazing. I'm glad you grabbed your camera.
    Best always, Sandra

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  8. First guffaw of the day: Smooch's face, priceless. Kinda like my cold weather challenged dog's face when she had to go out in 30-something degree weather. Not a happy canine. Thanks for the delightful info today.

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  9. I'm imagining Smooch as Max, the dog from How the Grinch Stole Christmas--the look is exactly the same!
    ha ha ha!

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  10. They run faster than a cheetah, huh?

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  11. I was reading an old National Geographic yesterday and they showed a photo of a pronghorn wriggling under a fence. Beautiful animals.
    Oh Smooch-what a ham!

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  12. I had learned a few weeks ago that Pronghorns aren't true antelopes. We have several 'Antelope' named geographic objects in our part of the Texas panhandle.

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  13. Wow! That is quite a large herd. The donkeys look so calm.

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