Fauna Series No. 6

Fauna of the National Parks — No. 6 The Bighorn of Death Valley

Figure 15.—At Navel Spring the bighorn demonstrated that while they may not absolutely need water in the winter, they will make an 8-mile trip to get it. In winter they can go at least 3 weeks without water, but in summer they must drink every 3 to 5 days. Navel Spring is one of the key bighorn springs in Death Valley.

Figure 16.—Although these bighorn would feed to within a year of us in the open wash at Navel Spring they suddenly found our presence to be an unacceptable condition in that environment. The old hunting blind overlooking Navel Spring probably has contributed to their increased anxiety at the spring.

Figure 17.—At Navel Spring, Old Eighty (note "horn-print" and characteristic carriage of the head and graying muzzle) was photographed at 100 feet with a 500-mm lens. She reflects the tension of the entire band as she stares suspiciously down at us standing in the shadow of the box canyon below.

Figure 18.—We had to retreat to a point 75 feet from the spring before they would let us observe their watering behavior. With much "spooking," they finally drained all the basins, but this was not enough water to satisfy their needs. Big Sandy paws in the mud and waits for her tracks to fill with water.

Figure 19.—However, not all of the band reacted to the confines of Navel Spring and our presence there in the same way. In open terrain Big Sandy was one of the wariest in the band, but her experience at the waterhole apparently had not included aggressive action from humans, and she was, surprisingly, less wary than even Old Mama.

Figure 20.—The 6-month-old ram lamb played around too long and found nothing but mud when he came to drink at Navel Spring. Here he tries to make up his mind whether to go with the departing band or wait for more water to seep into their hoofprints.

Figure 21.—Rehabilitation of Navel Spring consisted of digging back to the source of each trickle, then channeling it into one or more troughs made from half an oil drum, which we sank flush with the ground. Before the work, the seep shown here produced only 5 gallons per day.

Continued >>>

Last Modified: Thurs, May 16 2002 10:00:00 pm PDT
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/fauna6/faunap2.htm