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.

***

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.