22 Nebraskaland • December 2023
ebraska's Rocky Mountain
bighorn sheep (Ovis
canadensis) and their amazing
climbing capabilities are
enjoyable to watch throughout the
year, but there's arguably no greater
show than when they put their heavy
headwear to use during fall.
It's the headwear, after all, that gives
the species its name. With a spread
that can reach almost 3 feet wide,
the horns on a mature ram can weigh
more than 30 pounds. That exceeds
the weight of all the other bones in its
body combined.
During the pre-rut, a period of
fall in which rams work to establish
dominance among fellow males, the
horns become especially useful. While
subordinate rams occasionally sneak
past the dominant ones for breeding,
researchers estimate that in each herd
the top one to three rams father 60
percent or more of the lambs.
Because mating behaviors by
bighorn sheep and other ruminant
species are triggered by length of
daylight, the timing is predictable.
With that in mind, I ventured to the
Wildcat Hills in early November last
year to see if I could catch the show.
After fi nding a group of fi ve similar-
sized rams working to determine
their pecking order below the region's
rugged landforms, it didn't take long
to determine it was well worth the
journey.
Similar to gunfi ghters of the Old
West, rams frequently squared off
in twos and stared each other down.
Sometimes, they reared up on hind
legs in what is called a "threat jump."
And, occasionally, they'd perform the
best show of all — a head-on collision
creating the cracking sound said to be
audible from miles away.
Scientists have estimated the
collisions generate a force 60 times
greater than that required to crack a
human skull. If one ram is fortunate,
the other will concede until the
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