The most fleet-footed animals on the plains, pronghorn are not only fast, they are pretty skittish. This handsome fellow proved that true on both counts.
He was fine with me driving by but the second I stopped my truck, it was off to the races. Here I caught him mid-stride with him stretched out and all of his legs in the air.
One of the puzzles about these creatures is why did they evolve to run so fast (50+ mph)? There is no reason for them to have that speed as there are no predators in North America that have a prayer of keeping up. Skeletons have been found indicating there used to be an American cheetah that has long been extinct. It is theorized that the pronghorn developed its speed to be able to get away from that predator.
