Animals

BIGHORN SHEEP

Bighorn Sheep are best known for their large curled horns and fierce head-on fights.Their current population is only one-tenth of what it was when Europeans first arrived in the Rocky Mountains.

Only the rams (male sheep) get the huge horns that can weigh up to 30 pounds. Ewes (females) have shorter horns that never exceed half a curl.

While the fur is usually a shade of brown, it can become quite faded by late winter. Bighorn sheep are not be be confused with mountain goats who have blazing white fur, humped shoulders and straight black horns.

They prefer small herds and graze on alpine meadows or grassy mountain slopes near rocky cliffs which can allow for a quick escape.

They move to lower elevations in the winter because they can't paw through deep snow to feed.




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