We have photos for about two days more, so I begin this post with my usual importuning for wildlife shots. Send ’em in if they’re good ones. Thanks!
I found today’s submission by accident. It was sent a while back by social psychologist Lee Jussim at Rutgers, and shows various shots of mountain goats and bighorn sheep. Lee’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
The intro was short!:
Mucking around, i discovered these attached. Colorado, 2011. [JAC: These are bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis.]
Bighorn looking right at us:
Bighorn profile:
Regal bighorn:
More bighorns:
One at the top:
Why did the bighorn cross the creek?
The range of bighorn sheep (from Wikipedia):
And their sad history (from Wikipedia):
Bighorn sheep were widespread throughout the western United States, Canada, and northern Mexico two hundred years ago. The population was estimated to be 150,000 to 200,000. Unregulated hunting, habitat destruction, overgrazing of rangelands, and diseases contracted from domestic livestock all contributed to the decline, the most drastic occurring from about 1870 through 1950.
In 1936, the Arizona Boy Scouts mounted a statewide campaign to save the bighorn sheep. The scouts first became interested in the sheep through the efforts of Major Frederick Russell Burnham. Burnham observed that fewer than 150 of these sheep still lived in the Arizona mountains. The National Wildlife Federation, the Izaak Walton League, and the National Audubon Society also joined the effort. On January 18, 1939, over 600,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) of land were set aside to create the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.
Many state and federal agencies have actively pursued the restoration of bighorn sheep since the 1940s. However, these efforts have met with limited success, and most of the historical range of bighorns remains unoccupied. Hunting for male bighorn sheep is allowed, but heavily regulated, in Canada and the United States
Small group of mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus)
Baby mountain goat, closeup:
Range of the mountain goat (from Wikipedia):
Love how these are super clear and simple, with a rich background – visually and historically.
Interesting that there are bighorn in western N Dakota. Having driven down that end of the state once, I wouldn’t have expected any to be there. Some broad rolling hills but nothing in the way of mountains. They look more like goats with big horns to me, too.
Nice photos. These are some of my favorite animals.
Great Bighorn pictures!
Majestic photos!
I met Lee at the Heterodox thingie in Brooklyn a few months ago b/c I’m a big fan of his work and even got a selfie. Also met PCC(E) – who was cool.
Didn’t know Lee had this hobby!
Cool!
D.A.
NYC
Some years ago when hiking in Glacier National Park, I came upon a mountain goat mom and her kid who were hanging out with the humans hiking the trail. I was told she was doing this because she knew that predators avoided humans, so she was keeping her kid safe by associating with humans.
Reminds me of another incident on the same trip: I was about to enter the Yellowstone National Park visitor center when I noticed a baby elk standing next to the entrance as tourists came and went. The Ranger inside told me that the mother would leave her offspring there every day when she went out to forage, knowing that wolves and bears would not come near the humans.
These are great! Thanks, Lee. We saw a bunch of I think the longhorn sheep (though might have been mountain goats😵💫) walking down the main street of a town near the BC/AB border a few years ago when we had to take a detour due to a landslide. Wish I could remember the name of the town..