Never Cry Elk, Chapter Six

Chapter Six is here!

It's time for a map! I added the porcupine (in green) from last chapter and then since Mitaka was working on a pronghorn in this chapter, I added that as well, which is the pink. As it turns out, I didn't really need the porcupine because the pronghorn's range pretty much fits inside. Oh well.

So this is what we're left with:

So our list of possible places are California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Saskatchewan, and maybe Alberta. There's two more major animals in this fic which will narrow this down a bit more.

And now for our weekly animal facts. This time, I wanna talk about pronghorns. Y'know. These guys.
male prongorn standing in scrub

This is one of North America's coolest mammals. And it's not an antelope. NOT. A. FUCKING. ANTELOPE. Look at him. Does that look like an antelope to you? Maybe? Well, okay. I understand why people think that. But the biggest difference is right there on this guy's head. See those horns? They're not horns. They're pronghorns (yes, the animal and the head ornamentation have the same name). A true horn consists of bone with a keratinous (same stuff hair and fingernails are made of) sheath and they aren't shed. The pronghorn is similar, as it has a bony core, but it's then covered in skin that hardens. The outside layer then sheds every year. And unlike a true horn, these guys have that little prong on the front. True horns can twist and turn, but they don't branch.

We also know they're not antelope, because antelope are related to cows, goats, and sheep (all horned animals). And these guys are related to giraffes! Or at least, that's their closest living relative. There used to be other similar animals to pronghorns in North America, but they're all extinct. Some had really cool head ornamentation too.

So now y'all know why I think they're cool. But they're seriously amazing animals. So here's why other people think they're cool.

These guys are the second fastest land animal in the world, able to run at speeds of about 60-65 miles an hour (96-104 km/h). Not quite as fast as a cheetah, but they can keep it up just a little bit longer. And at lower speeds, they can actually run for a while. So why do they need that kind of speed? Wolves and coyotes only go about 40 mph (64 km/h). A mountain lion can maybe get up to 50 mph (80 km/h). Bears can go 40 mph over short distances. So why are pronghorns so much faster?

A couple million years ago, there were some very cheetah like cats living here simply referred to as American cheetahs. They might be related to the modern cheetah, but that's still up for debate. But it's believed that like modern cheetahs, American cheetahs were using speed to hunt. So the pronghorn had to evolve to outrun cheetahs. Although their predator no longer exists, they still have their speed.

Another fun fact is that pronghorn can't really jump, which sets them apart from a lot of other ungulates. Because of that, fences can disrupt their movements and migration. They can run under fences, so there's a push to get ranchers to remove the bottom wire on barbed wire fences to allow pronghorns to move freely. One of the biggest threats to these guys is that their migration routes are being blocked by things like fences and roads. For the most part, their population is doing well, although smaller than it was historically. There are a few subspecies that are endangered however.

Also. Look at the baby. They're called fawns. And they're adorable.