December 2023 • Nebraskaland 23
following year and more collisions
won't be required that day. The victor
will mate with the ewes of choice, and
come spring, they'll deliver off spring
with his winning genetics.
Such collisions require a special
build. Horns are constructed of bone
extending from the skull, covered by
a thick sheath of keratin, the sheep's
version of the material that forms
human fi ngernails. Not only are the
horns solid enough to withstand the
collision with minimal damage, the
rams' skulls are specially constructed
to take a blow. The skulls are segmented
with suture-like seams, giving them
fl exibility to lessen the risk of cracking.
In addition, large frontal sinus cavities
protect the brain by distancing it from
the point of impact.
While the clashing of the horns may
be the most dramatic part of the rams'
pre-rut behavior, each blow is usually
preceded by long periods of jostling
that is also captivating. Most of this
group's time that day was spent in a
huddled mass, nudging one another
with their horns. This activity often
results in wear on the horns' tips,
known as brooming. During these
sessions, rams use their stout legs to
kick their adversaries, often in the
testicles. No, being a bighorn ram
surely isn't always fun.
A few hundred yards away from
this group of rams was a large group
of grazing ewes, lambs and smaller
rams. With the new forage that had
emerged from areas recently burned by
wildfi res, they seemed uninterested in
the drama between the big males. Yet,
the outcomes of the day's competition
would determine which males the
females would be spending time with
in the weeks to come.
Furthermore, it would determine
the genetic make-up of the herd for
years to come. For these reasons, and
of course human tendency to marvel
at a "good" wreck, it's a show worth
watching.
N
Bighorn sheep rams gather to determine dominance during the pre-rut. Since the 1980s, reintroduction eff orts
have returned the species' presence to the steep terrain of the Panhandle's Wildcat Hills and Pine Ridge.
