Bighorn Sheep in Yellowstone National Park
Bighorn Sheep are found in limited areas of Yellowstone Park. They are nimble and have a well-developed sense of balance, allowing them to seemingly walk on sheer cliffs and mountain sides.
Bighorns prefer to graze the grasses and browse on the shrubs found in open meadows, but they find safety on rocky ledges and rugged terrain. Look for them along the cliffs and steep hills on the road from Mammoth to Gardiner. Rocky outcrops in the Lamar Valley are also good places to look.
Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis)
Bighorn sheep are named for the large, curved horns born by the males, or rams. Females, or ewes also have horns, but they are short with only a slight curvature. Sheep range in color from light brown to grayish or dark, chocolate brown, with a white rump and lining on the back of all four legs. Rocky Mountain bighorn females weigh up to 200 pounds, and males occasionally exceed 300 pounds.
Bighorn sheep are herd animals, but they do not necessarily follow a single leader ram like their domestic sheep relatives. Wild sheep live in social groups, but rams and ewes typically meet only to mate. Rams live in bachelor groups and females live in herds with other females and their young rams.
Mating season is started in November and December with the rams attempting to establish dominance over the harem of ewes. The tremendous horns of the male sheep, which can weigh more than 40 pounds, are for defending from predators and for battling amongst themselves. Battling rams will face each other, rear up on their hind legs and hurl themselves at each other at up to 20 miles per hour, crashing head first! Usually only stronger, older rams (with bigger horns) are able to mate.
Bighorn ewes have a six-month gestation and one, or rarely two, lambs are born in spring on high, secluded ledges protected from bighorn predators such as wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. Young can walk soon after birth, and at one week old each lamb and its mother join others in a herd. The playful, independent lambs are usually weaned when they reach 4-6 months.
Myths And Legends of the Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn sheep played an important part in early Native American's lives and were often depicted being hunted in rock art more often than any other animal.
Native Americans seldom ate bighorn sheep meat, because bighorn were so difficult to catch and kill. It often took many days and many miles of wandering and following an animal until it was finally killed. Once caught and killed, almost all parts of the animal were used. About 3000 years ago, hunting bighorn became easier with the switch from the ataltl (a throwing weapon much like a spear) to the bow and arrow, allowing the hunter to hunt from any position, instead of just a standing position.
Leg tendons of the bighorn were used in bow construction, helping in the bow's recoil. Horns and bones were used to form tools, utensils, and ornaments. The hide was used for clothing, footwear, containers, and binding.
Bighorn sheep were amongst the most admired animals of the Apsaalooka (Crow) people, and what is today called the Bighorn Mountain Range was central to the Apsaalooka tribal lands. In the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area book, storyteller Old Coyote describes a legend related to the bighorn sheep. A man possessed by evil spirits attempts to kill his heir by pushing the young man over a cliff, but the victim is saved by getting caught in trees.
Rescued by bighorn sheep, the man takes the name of their leader, Big Metal. The other sheep grant him power, wisdom, sharp eyes, sure-footedness, keen ears, great strength and a strong heart. Big Metal returns to his people with the message that the Apsaalooka people will survive only so long as the river winding out of the mountains is known as the Bighorn River.
Past and Present for the bighorns
Bighorn sheep once numbered in the millions in the western U.S. and were an important food source for humans. As was the case with many plains herd animals, the Bighorn population suffered during the relentless hunting for marketable skins during the 19th century.
In 1912, it was reported that visitors to Yellowstone Park could view up to 200 Bighorn sheep with fair certainty around Mt. Everts, Mt. Washburn or other well known ranges.
Today, winter visitors to the park still enjoy watching and photographing bighorns along the cliffs between Gardiner and Mammoth, as they did almost a hundred years ago. Annual surveys of the Bighorns indicate that the resident herd on Yellowstone's northern range consists of at least 150-225 animals.
Sheep are commonly seen along the road through the Gardner River Canyon, where visitors should be alert for bighorns crossing between their preferred cliffs and the river where they drink. These bighorns cause numerous traffic jams and are sometimes illegally fed by visitors, posing traffic hazards and danger to the sheep. Park staff and visitors are encouraged to educate others about the importance of the "no feeding" regulation to the long-term welfare of these wild animals.
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