Fauna Series No. 6

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

Figure 57.—The remarkable synchronization of movement pictured here is the rule, not the exception. Every effort seems to be made to insure a perfect head-on and balanced contact. Note that both heads are tilted to the same side.

Figure 58.—Sometimes the heads are tilted in opposite directions, resulting in a blow on the forehead itself instead of on the horns, but the encounter is still head-on and in balance.

Figure 59.—Occasionally one slips or miscalculates and a severe neck-twisting or nose-smashing can result. Tabby, the ram on the left, has a scar on the right side. Broken Nose has a dark patch on the left horn. Tabby has not watered for 3 days, and shows the gauntness and rough coat of dehydration.

Figure 60.—This 7-year-old ewe was captured and brought to the Desert Game Range in 1947 when she was a lamb. Here 6-week-old lamb was born in 1954 and registered in the Desert Game Range genealogy as "female No. 7."

Figure 61.—This is "female No. 7," when 6 weeks old in April 1954. At this age, the previously ill-defined rump patch turns white. The horns have not appeared, but the characteristic tufts of hair often are mistaken for beginning horns.

Figure 62.—"Female No. 7," when 7 months old in October 1954.

Figure 63.—"Female No. 7," when 2 years and 7 months old in October 1956, accompanied by her 6-1/2-month-old ewe lamb, which was born on April 4, 1956. These relatively inconspicuous "extra" growth rings appear fairly often in ewes.

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