Poco Mountain Girl

We came upon a herd of Rocky Mountain bighorns the other day, grazing along the side of the road.  A big male with battle-worn horns seemed to be in charge.

There was another male, a younger one, in the herd as well.  The two of them seemed to have an amicable relationship.

We’ve seen bighorn sheep before, but they have always seemed skittish, and we’ve usually only caught glimpses of them bounding away into crevices in the mountains.

This herd was very different–not at all afraid, and they didn’t even seem to care that we stopped to watch.

Some other people stopped after we did, and a few got out of their cars and tried to get closer to get pictures of themselves with the sheep.

That didn’t go over well with the man in charge, and he stared at them with a look that would have made me edge back into my car as fast as my little feet could patter.  My heart would have been pattering, too.  I don’t have hooves or horns, and if we butted heads, I’m pretty sure I know who would win–and it wouldn’t be lil’ ol’ me.

The picture-takers didn’t seem to notice the ram’s icy stare, but thankfully he overlooked their blissful entrancement.  “Just think! ME, on Facebook, with a herd of mountain goats!”

The old ram finally shook his head in disbelief and turned his womenfolk (and son?) up the mountain.

I’ve read a little about Rocky Mountain bighorns, and their horns alone can weigh 30 lbs–more than all the bones in their body combined.  They come down lower in the winter to find food, which is probably why they weren’t eager to leave their bit of grass by the road.

The females’ horns are smaller, and not so curved.  Check out the funny mismatched horns on this little female!

It was awesome to see them so close, and for such a long time.  They were strong and majestic, and not the least bit intimidated.  I still want to see one of those big furry white Rocky Mountain goats…but I’ll probably have to go up a little higher in the mountains for that.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2014 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Colorado, General, Nature, The Great Outdoors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.