This mother pronghorn and her youngster were hanging out in Grand Teton National Park.
While the little baby was as hyper as could be – jumping, running and prancing around, the mother was all business, keeping a watchful eye for predators.
The pronghorn looks quite like an antelope (but isn’t), which is why many people call them pronghorn antelopes.
Amazingly fast, the pronghorn is said to be the fastest mammal in all of the Americas! The Cheetah in Africa is believed to be the only land animal that is faster than these graceful creatures.
What’s the difference between a pronghorn and an antelope? I guess I could google it, but it seems so much easier to ask you. Nice shot.
Wandering Carol recently posted..What to do in Cape Town, to make you love it
Hey Carol! The antelope difference is really cool actually. While there are dozens of species of antelopes in Africa (impalas, pukus, dik diks, gazelles, etc) and some even in the Middle East and Asia…none are in North America.
The pronghorn comes from an entirely different animal family. There once were many “antelope looking” animals here in North America, going back millions of years…but sadly the pronghorn is the last one left.
Apparently there are little differences in the toes/hooves compared to antelope species too…and pronghorns are actually more closely related to giraffes, which is cool.
I probably should have put some of that in the photo post…but hey…now you know.