Wildlife on the Great Plains

When the Europeans first encountered the Great Plains, they called it the great American desert. It was a giant sea of grass, teeming with wildlife, that stretched from Canada to Mexico, and west to the Rocky Mountains.
The Great Plains encompasses the western part of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. It also includes the eastern sections of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.
It was the home of the Plains Indians, who followed the buffalo herds. When the buffalo were gone, the land was claimed by the open range cattlemen who ran vast herds of long-horned cattle over it. Then, with the homestead act of 1862, a horde of immigrants invaded the country. On 160-acre plots allotted them by the government, they built houses of sod and plowed up the native prairie grass to plant crops such as wheat, corn, sorghum, and alfalfa. Towns sprung up all across the Great Plains to supply goods to the homesteaders. The area became the Breadbasket of the nation.
With the cultivation of the prairie, much of the wildlife were pushed west to land too arid to farm. Others learned to adapt and take advantage of the new food supply provided by the farmers.
Wildlife on the Great Plains shows some of the animals that make their home on the prairie. In the text I tell where the animal lives, what it eats, how it cares for its young, and its size, color, and markings. In both drawings and text, the animal is accurately portrayed.
So travel across the Great Plains with me and learn more about the wildlife that make it their home.

Book sample from Page 40: PRONGHORN

The pronghorn is the swiftest mammal in the western hemisphere. It often runs at speeds of over 45 miles per hour.

Male Pronghorns, called bucks, stand up to 31/2 feet at the shoulder and may weigh over 120 pounds. They are mostly tan colored, with two white throat patches, a white belly, and rump. Bucks have a broad black stripe running from their nose to the forehead and a black patch beneath the jaw. The black pronged horns of the bucks may reach 20 inches in length. The females, called does, also have horns, but these are unpronged and seldom over three inches long. The outer covering of these horns are shed every year.

Pronghorns are found in the western United States from Montana to west Texas. They range in herds over grasslands and sagebrush prairies.

In May or June, the doe leaves the herd and gives birth to one or two babies called fawns. After about a week, the fawns are strong enough to rejoin the herd. They stay with their mother for nearly a year.

Pronghorns browse on sagebrush, grasses, and other green vegetation. They seldom drink water when enough green plant material is available.

Although they are often called antelopes, the Pronghorn is unrelated to the Old World antelopes. They are a separate family, found only in North America.

By the early 1920s, the Pronghorn was a rare sight on the western prairies. But now, due to good game management and being transplanted to former ranges, their numbers have expanded to around one-half million animals.