Several years ago, as we watched a small herd of mama antelope with their babies playing in our back pasture, I had a friend pensively ask why she no longer had antelope at her place. They have 40 acres SE of Denver and used to see them all the time. I asked if more fences had gone in around her. She said yes, but she still got plenty of deer. She wondered why the antelope disappeared. I told her that it’s the fencing.
Antelope are not prone to jumping like deer do. Will they jump? Yes. Will they choose to move out of an area if their only option for migration and daily movement is to jump fences? YES.
Antelope (truly, actually they are pronghorn) are the fastest land mammal. Faster than the cheetah, even. It is my theory that they prefer open spaces where they don’t have to jump so they can run as fast as they are capable without having to pause to jump.
Since moving to the prairie and watching their habits, we have made the effort to make space for the antelope. We provide a water tank for them when our ponds are dry, they enjoy the salt block we have set out back, and we have taken the bottom rung of our fence off in a few strategic places so the antelope can readily go under the fence as per their general mode of operation.
I attended a guided walk at Soapstone Prairie Open Space one morning and one of the attendees asked about the antelope we saw that day. The guide was quick to inform us that all of their fencing is 18” above the ground so the antelope can move about in their preferred fashion. 18” is all they need.
Jay has come across entangled bucks and helped them free themselves from the fence. One was so exhausted it lay prone for sometime before it would get up and move away after Jay had freed it. It’s a good idea to carry wire cutters when traveling in case you come across some poor stranded soul.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has a great document on fencing for wildlife in mind. https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/LandWater/PrivateLandPrograms/FencingWithWildlifeInMind.pdf
Personally, I moved to the prairie to be a part of the ecosystem and to continue to enjoy the wildlife in all its glory and wisdom. When we consider living holistically it means being in relationship with the entire web of life. Dominating cannot be any part of the idea. Our Divine Mother Gaia asks us to be in relationship so that we can be sustainable as we consider 7 generations following us and what the world will look like to them. Our Divine Father God gave us the planet and asked us to be good stewards. When we choose to dominate rather than be in relationship with any part of LIFE we are creating a ripple effect. One does not know how far that ripple will go and to what effect.
So… where have all the antelope gone? Check your fencing and the fencing of those who are in the area around you. The answer is right in front of our eyes.
