Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Another large mammal I was able to photograph along the Mount Evans Highway (Colorado) was the Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis). Here are a couple of my favorite bighorn photos, made at close range:

Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn Sheep

 

These sheep were in a small herd of ~12 adults, along with a small group of newborn lambs. I saw some bighorn sheep several times during the week, often accompanying the Mountain Goats along the rocky mountainside. But the sheep and goats did not get along real well, often resulting in some “conflicts” … the goats usually won those matches, chasing the sheep away. At this time of the year, the big rams (males) are in a group to themselves, often at even higher and more rugged elevations. The groups I always came across consisted of the ewes (females), yearling rams, 2-year old rams, and the newborns. The older rams will stay away from these groups, in their own small groups of 2-5 rams,  until they are again ready to mate … sometime in late fall to early winter.

Coming up … we’ll have some fun with some bighorn sheep lambs, as well as another interesting behavior of the adult bighorns.  :o)

 

 

Posted in Mammals, Nature Photography, Travel Photography
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