Page:The Scientific Monthly vol. 3.djvu/412

 4o6 TEE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

Pronohorned Antelope

Of the pronghom (Antilocapra americana) referred to by Chalmers Mitchell'* as one of the most isolated and interesting of living crea- tures, formerly represented by herds of thousands of individuals found practically everywhere on Galifomian plains, we have only scattering bands remaining. There are still a few in the Modoc region of north- eastern California, on the arid western side of the San Joaquin Valley, in that part of the Mohave Desert known as Antelope Valley, and pos- sibly in scattered localities in the extreme southern part of the state. This is the animal which was only a few years ago one of the most con- spicuous features of the Califomian plains and deserts, as witness the following from Newberry :

Though found in nearly all parts of the territory of the United States west of the MiBsissippi, it is probably most numerous in the valley of the San Joaquin, California. There it is found in herds literaUy of thousands; and though much reduced in numbers by the war which is incessantly and remorselessly waged upon it, it is stiU so common that its flesh is cheaper and more abundant in the markets of the Galifomian cities than that of any other animal.s7

It is not improbable that the antelope's former habitat extended nearly or quite to tidewater. Dr. Colbert A. Canfield of Monterey, who seems to have been a close and careful observer, wrote to Professor Baird in 1858 as follows :

In your report you say nothing of the existence of the antelope on this side of the Sierra Nevada; but I can assure you that they abound everywhere in aU the plains and valleys of the western slope, down to the Pacific Ocean.**

A. Eobinson in his "Life in California ''*• writes of the San Fran- cisco bay region :

On the northern side of the bay are found the American elk and antelope, and great quantities of deer. . ..

J. Eoss Browne, writing in 1864, says with reference to country traversed by him:

A large portion of the country bordering on the Salinas river, as far south as the Mission of Soledad, has been cut up into small ranches and farms; and thriving settlements and extensive fields of grain are now to be seen where formerly ranged wild bands of cattle, mustang, and innumerable herds of antelope. ' '»•

The pronghom was apparently sustaining about all the competition it could withstand before the advent of the white man. Since his coming it has been on the downgrade. Apparently his best efforts will be neces- sary to preserve its life.

2« Science, N. S., Sept. 20, 1912, p. 357.

if Pac. E. B. Reports, 6, 1857, Zoology, p. 71.

2« Proc, Zool, 8oc. London, 1866, p. 110.

2» New York, Wiley and Putnam, 1846, p. 61.

so ''Crusoe's Island," New York, Harper's, p. 174.

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