Documents wildlife observations and discoveries of a pronghorn herd located near my home in Colorado Springs to include reporting pronghorn behavior, taking pictures, and collecting artifacts. Who are these majestic survivors hidden among the fringes of urban development? Did you know it is fun to collect pronghorn horns? Have you ever seen a jackalope? Come discover the mysteries of the pronghorn world during a time and place before urban expansion pushes the pronghorn further away.
Exploring the Neighborhood Pronghorn Community has received many positive reviews and is about figuring out what's up with these curious yet reclusive animals in an area just on the edge of housing developments here in Colorado Springs, Colorado. What's a pronghorn, you may ask? ... Nature and deer lovers will treasure this book telling a story and loaded with great wildlife photos, "an engaging blend of science, adventure, and inspiration." See more at https://jamesszczur.wordpress.com/
Documents wildlife observations and discoveries of a pronghorn herd located near my home in Colorado Springs to include reporting pronghorn behavior, taking pictures, and collecting artifacts. Who are these majestic survivors hidden among the fringes of urban development? Did you know it is fun to collect pronghorn horns? Have you ever seen a jackalope? Come discover the mysteries of the pronghorn world during a time and place before urban expansion pushes the pronghorn further away.
Exploring the Neighborhood Pronghorn Community has received many positive reviews and is about figuring out what's up with these curious yet reclusive animals in an area just on the edge of housing developments here in Colorado Springs, Colorado. What's a pronghorn, you may ask? ... Nature and deer lovers will treasure this book telling a story and loaded with great wildlife photos, "an engaging blend of science, adventure, and inspiration." See more at https://jamesszczur.wordpress.com/
 Since moving to Colorado Springs in 1991, I have often seen herds of pronghorn antelope grazing in the surrounding grasslands.  Pronghorn antelope were a daily sight on my drive to Schriever and Peterson Air Force bases during my service in the United States Air Force and later as a government contractor. In high school, my class would study Native American cave drawings depicting antelope hunts, an example shown in Figure 1.  Growing up on the east coast in Pennsylvania, the pronghorn was and still is known as a symbol of the great West â the famed American frontier of the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Southwest. This was a place far away from city life, where history comes alive, and dreams can come true.
In 2020, I took an interest in observing pronghorn close up, studying their habits, behaviors, movements, and artifacts such as footprints, droppings, skeletal remains, and shed horns. I made other wildlife observations such as blooming cactuses, prowling coyotes, sprinting jack rabbits, soaring eagles, perching red tail hawks, and the fluttering of various small birds. The serenity and quiet of the seemingly endless and timeless grassland, a feeling of insignificance and smallness within the harsh and vast outdoors of Godâs immense and pristine creation, was of particular awe. The thought that pronghorn only live to about 10 years in the wild brought to mind how quickly our time on Earth is fleeting â what are we to do in this short time?  Several family members have joined me on safari, shown proudly with their horn finds in Figure 2.
Figure 1. Ancient Pronghorn Petroglyph
 Petroglyphs from Buckskin Gulch in Southern Utah exemplify how the
Native Americans of the American Southwest revered and hunted pronghorn.
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Figure 2. Family Adventurists and Finding Horns
From left to right are wife LaDonna, son Benjamin, and brother Don.
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Above all else, exploring pronghorn presented a life opportunity. For example, in Built for Speed: A Year in the Life of Pronghorn, author John Byers originally from upstate New York spent many years observing pronghorn by traveling to the remote north-west prairies of the National Bison Range in western Montana. I had a rare and unique opportunity to study a pronghorn herd in my own Colorado neighborhood, although the rapid housing development would quickly diminish this opportunity â the time was now!
Surprisingly, pronghorn thrive very close to human populations as the battle for prairie acreage is waged and repeatedly won by the bulldozer. The pronghorn live their daily lives and thrive in any open grassland, farmland, or cow pasture along the Colorado Front Range.  As farm and ranch land gave way to housing developments, the pronghorn enjoyed hanging around in their territory right up until the moment houses were built.  After all, the pronghorn were the first to mark their territory, as discussed later. Many of my observations were made on pronghorn in a new housing development where families were moving in, just south of the thick pine tree groves in Black Forest, Colorado. The tan areas shown in Google Map âSatelliteâ view in Figure 3 were heavily populated by local herds, while Figures, 4, 5, and 6 show pronghorn in action on the ground in these areas.Â
Figure 3. Aerial Suburban Map and Adjacent Pronghorn Territory
The green arrow shows a distance of 1 mile. Pronghorn thrive right alongside housing development areas. See new housing development roads in bulldozed areas south of the dark colored forested Black Forest at the top of the map.Â
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Introducing the âwho, what, where, why and howâ has been covered thus far. In the pages ahead, I will expound in word and picture some of the detailed observations and discoveries during my pronghorn safaris.
Figure 4. Confused Pronghorn Traverses a Home Site
Pronghorn have been seen hanging around in their territory right up until
the moment houses are built. See the pronghorn standing in a house lot
and the unpaved road with curb visible in the foreground.Â
Figure 5. Pronghorn at Twilight
A pronghorn overlooks his past home prairie land, now overrun by home builders and bulldozers.Â
Figure 6. Pronghorn Roaming Once-Familiar Territory
These beautiful pronghorn pictures were taken from my car, parked on a newly constructed unpaved road in the newly built neighborhood. Â Pronghorn are not afraid of cars. If a human was standing there, the pronghorn would stay much further away.
How did pronghorn antelope become iconic symbols of the American West? Why is the term âantelopeâ more common than âpronghornâ? What is the pronghornâs closest relative based on DNA? What is the fastest land animal in the world outside of the African cheetah?
Dive into this fascinating and nimble read for answers to all of this and more with Exploring the Neighborhood Pronghorn Community. This non-fiction work is a skillful blend of science and adventure. Written in a lively and upbeat style, the author chronicles his âcognitive, emotional, and spiritual impressionsâ during eighteen months of âpronghorn safarisâ in the wilds of Colorado. His intent is to present research and observations and discoveries of a pronghorn herd to satisfy his âlong-held curiosity about pronghorn life.â
And he delivers. In spades.
If youâre thinking this is a dull scientific text or a book on animal husbandry thatâs as dull as a blunt spoon, fear not! Because this is none of the above. Itâs an informative and immensely engaging âup close and personalâ look at these amazing âhigh plains driftersâ on hooves. It shows readers how fearless and curious pronghorn are. What incredibly keen eyesight, hearing, and smell they have and the beauty, grace, and timelessness of their wilderness environment.
The author skillfully interweaves his own story and experiences into the narrative along with his wilderness adventures. While watching the fleet-footed pronghorn, for example, he often ruminates about the brevity of life and the passage of time.
Just shy of one hundred pages, Pronghorn is chockful of interesting details about the history, habitat, body structure and behavior of these beautiful creatures. The text is richly illustrated with color photos. These enhance the readerâs understanding of these magnificent animals. Aerial maps, charts, and figures are also included in this compelling and absorbing read.
Chapters are well-organized and cogent. They feature a variety of information and observations related to pronghorn life. These include pronghorn social structure and behavior, the etymology of the word âpronghorn,â herd communication, and preservation efforts. The text is thoughtful and measured, with an excellent eye for detail. I learned a lot about these beautiful, fleet animals.
The author, also known as âProfessor Jim,â is an adjunct professor of engineering and a freelance wildlife research. His adventures and insights related to pronghorn antelope make for a rich and fascinating read. In fact, the authorâs passion for these majestic animals shines through in every page. Itâs easy to get lost in this enriching, incandescent read. And never want to come back.
Iâm glad I grabbed this book. You will be, too!