4525 Milling Around - a photo on Flickriver

            Nine pronghorn antelopes. including four bucks, lined up in the stubble of a canola field. They are near the dugout and uncertain about going down for a drink.  Grain bins in the background.                         I spotted them first lying down farther away in the stubble of a canola field. We parked on an approach which happened to be besides a well vegetated dugout by the road. Three bucks started walking towards us and I was wondering why but they stopped to check things out, then disappeared down into the dugout for several minutes. The others, accompanied by two more bucks started moving closer. They stopped to eat in a pile of spilled canola seeds, then moved towards the dugout as well. Many seemed hesitant to go down.  While some bucks led the way down, one animal, generally a buck, remained watching at the top. I have several photos where a buck comes back half way up, near a doe who hasn’t made up her mind to go down, then she makes up her mind and he follows or leads. When everyone was done drinking, they regrouped at the top, grazed a bit on what seemed to be canola stems or weeds, then started walking North after a startled moment caused by a truck starting up, after having stopped to watch them. Mating season for pronghorn antelopes is generally described as September but one reference mentions that it lasts from September through October. Bucks gather harems of females and protect them from other male pronghorns. Many times they get into battles with each other over the female pronghorn. Early cold weather means an early rut. It seems usual for pronghorns to form mixed herds of bucks and does for the winter.(wikipedia). These bucks were the only animals still carrying their horns, and still acted as protectors of the herd of females and 2 (or 3) fawns. One smelled a doe’s urine so there may still be unmated does in this band. No fighting between bucks while we watched. They seemed to act cooperatively to protect the herd, encourage does and fawns to come and drink, etc. Part of a herd of 19 Pronghorns. I was wondering why they were so unafraid during hunting season. A bit of research indicated that zone 18 was not open this year for antelope hunting. South of the turnoff to Gray, HWY 6 S. Saskatchewan, Canada. 1 November 2020.   start 2:05pm  

2022-23: Expert commended out of 3560 entries in Photocrowd 'Groups of Animals' competition in January 2023.

Taken on: November 1, 2020

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Sets appears in: • Mammals • Saskatchewan 2017 on more » • Competitions 2022-23 « less

Camera: Canon EOS 90D, f/11.0, 1/1000 sec, 400mm, ISO 320 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 90D
Lens:	EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	400mm
ISO:	320
Exposure Bias:	-1/2 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.3 (Windows)
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