As we were leaving Yellowstone National Park through its northern entrance, we came across this lone pronghorn antelope beside the road just outside of Gardiner, Montana. There was a convenient pullout so I parked, grabbed my camera and began shooting some images. My experience in photographing pronghorns has been disappointing as they usually take one quick look at you before they gallop the other way.
Pronghorns are among the fastest animals on earth, capable of sprinting more than 53 miles (86 kilometers) an hour (only the cheetah is faster). They are also fast endurance runners, able to maintain speeds of about 25 miles an hour for many miles.
Pronghorns are fairly short, about 3 ft (one meter) tall at the shoulders. They are a rusty brown color with white stomachs and white stripes on their throats. Males and females have backward-curving horns that split to form forward-pointing prongs (hence their name). They are herbivores, preferring grass and sagebrush, and chew cud in comfort after grazing.
