Fauna Series No. 6

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

Figure 43.—A mature ram crushed these cottontop cactuses with the buldge of his horn, then pawed them open with a front foot. But this is our only observation in 8 years of the full use of his cactus by bighorn in Death Valley, indicating that generalizations from such single observations can lead to misconceptions of bighorn life history.

Figure 44.—Small lambs can vanish quickly in the desert. We last saw this lamb (Little Fuzzy) alive on August 23, 1957. After we had searched for 3 days, we were led to its body in this advanced stage of decomposition by circling ravens and buzzards on August 30. Three months later, there were not even any bones left.

Figure 45.—Pack rats often confuse the beginner in sign reading by leaving pellets somewhat similar to lamb pellets and by "browsing" plants both for food and for nest-building. Additional confusion also can be caused by the browsing of chuckwallas.

Figure 46.—Game trails are often reported to us as bighorn trails. On such trails the larger tracks usually are made by coyotes, and there is no sign of any of those on the valley floor being used by bighorn. But such tracks still give impetus among the credulous to the legend of the valley crossing by bighorn.

Figure 47.—The rough gauntness of extremely dehydrated adults on their way to water is often mistaken for a generally poor condition. The same animals, fat and sleek from rehydration, can be mistakenly counted the second time as different animals. This astonishing transformation was observed many times.

Figure 48.—A possible cause of mortality is suggested by the propensity of lambs to play on nearly sheer walls, leaping into the air and kicking their heels. This one lived to repeat the same antics the next evening until after dark, but we have found dead ones at the base of cliffs.

Figure 49.—Forgotten Creek was rediscovered during this survey. It flows for nearly a mile down a canyon in the foothills of the Grapevines. We observed no sign of contemporary bighorn use, although old trails converged on the upper springs from the foothills. But sign quickly disappears in similar salty terrain at Nevares Spring as a result of chemical action.

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Last Modified: Thurs, May 16 2002 10:00:00 pm PDT
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