Fastest Four Legs in America~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS

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Everyone knows the fastest land animal in the world is the cheetah, but not everyone knows the second fastest animal in the world is the North American Pronghorn Antelope. Pronghorns can run up to 55 mph for .5 miles. They can run 35 mph for up to 4 miles. In fact, they can run at high speeds for more sustained periods than African Cheetahs.

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This is a puzzling ability because no predator in North America can run fast enough to catch a pronghorn, so why is it necessary for pronghorns to run this fast?
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Biologists believe that pronghorns evolved to run these speeds in order to evade the now extinct American Cheetah.

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During the Pleistocene era, there were twelve species of pronghorns in North America. By the time humans settled on the continent there were five.
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We are now left with one remaining species. Pronghorns are in fact not antelopes at all but a unique species named Antilocapra Americana. Handsome creatures aren’t they?

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Pronghorns range all over the American west, into Canada and northern Mexico.
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They have the longest land migration of any species in the continental US.
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They migrate 300 miles roundtrip, between Wyoming’s Upper Green River Basin,
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and Grand Teton National Park.
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Cheers to you from the fascinating Antilocapra Americana~

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271 thoughts on “Fastest Four Legs in America~”

  1. I always thought the Gazelle was the 2nd fastest land animal… next to the Cheetah. Was I mistaken? Lovely pics and great post as usual, Cindy. 🙂

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    1. Yeah, I probably thought this too, but gazelles are not as fast as pronghorns. I guess the theory with the gazelles is numbers. There are so many thousands of them, that the majority survive.

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      1. Kim Novak [although I was too dense to know who she was and thought nothing to running all over in my VW with her when we lived in Monterey] had a large heard of llama. She introduced us to the loving nature of llamas and from there to alpacas. We kept 2 alpacas for a little over a year and it did wonders for Tom’s depression. They’d follow him everywhere [his little dog wasn’t amused but he got used to it]. Of course the move to DC meant no to the alpacas but I still think we could have hid them in our backyard:) Let’s face it – they make no noise and their poop doesn’t stink. We lived in an area with zero outside noise – – – from DC we went to Oregon and then N.C. so it would have worked out and I could be cuddling one right now!!! What wonderful memories you help me recall — I swear, you’ve become a therapist again through your photos. I’m sure you thought you’d left that field far behind with your fabulous life as a photographer. You have the ability to stir some of my strongest emotions with your photography but they are the good memories that have been dormant. I’d forgotten about the alpacas bringing us such joy in a time of such sadness. Thank you, my dear friend.

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      2. Oh Sheri, you are such a lovely person. Yours sentiments moved my heart.
        The vegan grazers, giraffe, impala, deer, pronghorns, alpaca, etc., have these incredibly gentle, beautiful eyes. When you look in them you sense this gentleness of spirit that is intuitively calming and even spirtual to some humans. People who sense this and respond to it have gentle hearts, as you do Sheri, and does Tom. Animals sense this reponse in humans and respond with trust, which is why the alpacas followed Tom around. Even wild grazers do this. They are curious about humans whom they perceive as non-threatening and they let you get close. I am not at all suprised that you raised alpacas, or that you were friends with Kim Novak. She loves the wild creatures and can see in their hearts, which is why she wisely chose you for a friend. <3

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  9. Oh, it is an amazing and magnificent creature! I never heard of it before.
    American Cheetah? When did they disappear? Never heard of that, either. I must be living in a cave somewhere.
    Cindy, your shot of the mountain reflected in the lake is marvelous!
    This is a special post, thank you!!!!

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    1. You know I just found out this morning that I deleted 50% of the images in my posts, hence I deleted half my posts. Pffffffffst…….gone with a backstroke. I am working on Zen-ing myself right now. All is impermanent…..ommmmmmm. So thank you for saying this post is special and I didn’t even delete it!!! Whoooopeeeee!

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      1. Eek! That is not a fun thing to happen!
        Cindy, I am ever paranoid about this kind of computer mishap.
        So, every 2 months I create an XML file.
        It is in the “Tools” section of your Dashboard.
        It says “Export Blog”& you export a copy of your entire blog onto your Desktop. It is in a Zip File. It does not disturb your blog….everything is still there.
        I copy the XML onto a USB stick, & hide another copy on my hard drive.
        Thanks for reminding me! It’s time to create an XML of my Art Gowns!

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  10. Such a gorgeous creature! Your photos always make me marvel at the wonder of nature and your descriptions often remind me about the destructiveness of humankind (5 species down to one).

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    1. Awwwww thank you. I deleted 50% of my blog photos today, hence 50% of my posts. Gone poooooof! Isn’t that clever of me? So I was feeling sorry for myself. Your comment cheered me up. Thank you!

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      1. If done immediately, Ctrl Z will undo or restore what you just did. Youngest son told me this. I said it wasn’t working, after a few weeks. Ha! I was mashing Ctrl X. Guess what that does. For a few hours, sometimes more, some items are cached in the trash file, or the history files, and can be restored. A couple of times I found that the camera itself had a history seperate from the memory card. I found it by accident … and lost it again among all the multi-function icons … maybe the images are stored somewhere? The ones you have used are so gorgeous.

        The year I was 4.5 – 5.5 we lived in Montana. I remember flying over hills in a jeep following Pronghorns in the fall. I still have rocks I picked up in the Grand Tetons after the spring thaw.

        Thank you for high lighting nature’s glory with your own unique and beautiful vision. Thank you.

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        1. Oh, I wish I knew this. I lost 50% of my posts, and a few of the remaining posts had missing photos so I had to go back and substitute photos that weren’t from that actual time frame, which I didn’t like doing. It seems ungenuine somehow. I like accuracy. The error happened with WordPress’s Media Gallery. I had a gazillion photos in it and I decided to clear some out and free up some space. So I deleted a bunch of photos. After deleting, I saw that this permanently removed photos from already posted posts. So I have a bunch of links to posts out there with no photos in them. I wonder if this means, that when we stop paying for wordpress, all our photos will disappear from out posts. Maybe our posts themselves will be deleted once we stop payiing. If so, this is not a very good deal. Because posts that we paid for shouldn’t be deleted. Aw well, all is impermanent……
          What a memory of chasing the pronghorns in the jeep! How thrilling! I spent some childhood summers in The Tetons. I remember the wolves howling us to sleep in our cabin and riding my horse Moose all the over the place, including back and forth across The Snake River. I also used to lie in the meadows, playing dead, hoping the eagles would fly down to investigate me. They never did of course! 😉 The Tetons in the summertime are made for kids and memories! Love it that you have these memories too~

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          1. And pack rats … hahaha

            Do you keep an email copy of your posts? Copy paste to another file..quick. The link might not work, but copy paste will … unless you have one of those alarm anti-copy whatsits Try. Maybe someone with an email follow instead of reader has them? Your husband or son or someone like that?

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  25. Wow these are gorgeous pictures!!!! first, simply beautiful animals, you have captured every detail for us to enjoy! I can’t believe they are so fast. Second, the pictures of the water, the mountains, reflections,ohhhh really what amazing photos. Thank you so much for sharing such beauty!!!

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  26. Hi Cuz,
    The pics of the pronghorns are fantastic. As far as their running, I think they just like to show off…, that, and maybe they just like the feel of the wind on their faces. The pic of the mountain reflected in the lake remind me of one of my secret Montana trout fishing holes. It was just on the east side of Yellowstone, southeast of Waldo (Yes ! I found Waldo !). A 3 mile hike from there was a place locals called Emerald Lake where there were golden trout, one of the most beautiful fish I’ve ever caught. Anyway, thanks for dredging up memories of beautiful places and things with your pics and posts. The biology lessons are nice too ! Hugs !

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    1. I remember an Emerald Lake well from when I was young. The baby trout would nibble your toes and it tickled. I wonder if it is the same. The east side of Yellowstone is pretty amazing. I haven’t done the Yellowstone scenery pics yet. You can definitely tell we are related, because we love these same gorgeous parts of the country. My other cousins, Mike and John, love Yellowstone and The Tetons too and fish there all the time!

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    1. We do have mountain lions and bears, but they can’t run 55mph, poor dears! I think they must enjoy it and I had a dream about this last night. I dreamed of them running full tilt acorss the plains just for the joy of it! <3

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  34. Beautiful animals! I once saw some of them near Jackson, WY. They were running very fast. By the time I raised my camera and tried to focus on them, they were gone.

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  35. Okay Cindy….bear with me while I go on my rant & Cindy worship, lol 😉 First off, the pictures of Wyoming…SPECTACULAR!! So much so, that Inion just informed everyone she’s moving there!! lol Secondly, I’m going to show my dummy-side. I had no clue that there even was an “American Cheetah.” For real!! So I Googled it and sure enough, just as you said, extinct. So you’ve taught us something. They were beautiful creatures, how sad!! As for the Pronghorns, they are such beautiful creatures as well. But our favorite by far was the pictures of Wyoming. You’ve left us once again in awe of your artful eye and magical gift!! 😉 xoxo Sharing this now!!

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    1. Blogging is so much fun for me because it lets me make friends with people like you two! I would never meet such creative, brilliant, supportive and fun friends like you if it weren’t for blogging! I have wanted to move to Wyoming since I was a kid! So if Inion moves there, that’s it, I will too. (Don’t tell my husband yet though!) Love you both & cheers! <3 <3

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      1. Inion, here. And, I’m so ready to pack my bags. Matter of fact I’ll pick you up on the way there. 🙂 Have to say, Cindy I use your pictures as wallpapers for my computer and phone. They literally take my breath away. Funny enough you were the inspiration for one of our lines in Nightwalkers: The Secret of Jessup. The MC moves from Southwest Florida to Northwest Oregon. When she sees the grandeur of the mountains she says, “I used to have this kind of scenery on my desktop as wallpaper, but that was the limit of my experience with Utopias.” That’s how we feel when we look at your pictures. Love you!

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      2. Ahhhhhhh……Tell me when you think you will arrive and I’ll be packed and ready! So looking forward to reading your book. It makes me very happy to think what I do might make someone feel good. I am just parlaying Mother Nature’s eternal message. Thank you so much for hearing her. <3 <3

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  36. Interesting tidbit – I didn’t know that Pronghorns were that fast.
    Your pictures are gorgeous. They make me want to hop in the car and take a loooong drive westward.

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    1. I think the trick is to only approach the guarding male and completely ignore the female harem and fawns. The male will watch you, but if you only are looking at him, he may hold his ground. They never ran off. Of course they just could have been tired, or hungry or both, or maybe I just looked very non-threatening. I think it’s the latter……. 😉 😉

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  42. The pronghorns are so cool! It was getting close to the rut when we visited Yellowstone and what a job he had to try keeping his harem in one spot…hehe. It was quite entertaining to watch him chase the girls back into his little harem:)

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    1. That was just like the elk in Yellowstone during the rut. These guys run themselves ragged, and the females just wander off chewing their cud! Bugle, bugle! More females wander off! 😉

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