Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

I was just walking along when …

This pronghorn buck was napping when I crested a little hill and saw him. He stood up, and I stood still. Apparently, he didn’t detect a threat, so he laid back down.

Note: All the little red bits are blooms of claret cup cacti, which seem particularly spectacular – and prolific – this year.

These photos all are significantly cropped. Pronghorns are much warier of intrusions by two-legged intruders than the mustangs. 🙂

Interesting trivia:

They’re the fastest North American land mammal – actually, the fastest in the entire Western Hemisphere, according to Wikipedia.

Wyomingites call pronghorns “speed goats.”

Pronghorns are not antelope, which is why it’s correct to call them pronghorns (pronghorn/pronghorns for plural animals? that’s one I’m not sure about).

Pronghorns prefer crawling under fences to jumping over them, which is why wildlife-friendly fencing that takes elk calves and deer fawns into consideration also considers this knowledge about pronghorn behavior – stringing the lowest wire strand at least 18 inches off the ground.

Pronghorns aren’t currently hunted in Disappointment Valley because their population is low (likely *because of* previous hunting). They seem to be working toward recovery because while they’re infrequently seen, they ARE seen.

Visit Wikipedia for more information about these cool mammals.

A fantastic book (thanks, David Temple!) is Built for Speed: A Year in the Life of Pronghorn.