Bighorn Sheep, Desert

Physical Features

The Desert Bighorn Sheep is a subspecies of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Desert Bighorn Sheep have a solid, stocky, and muscular body with short legs. Their coat is smooth and made up of an outer coat of stiff guard hairs and a short, wavy undercoat. In the summer it is a rich, glossy brown color with a white rump patch. During the winter their body color fades. They have a narrow and pointed muzzle and short ears. Their sharp-edged cloven hooves are elastic and concave. The rams have huge brown horns with horizontal ridges. They curl back over their ears, down and up again past the cheeks. The females, or ewes, have smaller horns that never get larger than half a curl. The horns or the rams can weigh as much as 30lb (14kg). Bighorn sheep have a double-layered skull honeycombed with bone struts to protect their brains during their impressive head-banging battles. Thick tendons link the skull and spine to help recoil from the impact. The rams weigh between 119-127kg, and measure 160-180 cm from head to tail whereas the ewes are much lighter and weigh between 53-91kg and have an average body length of 150cm. The Desert Bighorn Sheep have acute eyesight, which allows them to gauge distances when jumping between rocks. They are not as stocky as the Rocky Mountain Bighorn, and their horns are flatter and spread out more from their heads.

Habitat

Desert Bighorn Sheep live in small pockets of dry desert mountain ranges, foothills near rocky cliffs and water when it is available. They exist in a barren, mostly waterless environment in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts on the North American continent. Their preferred habitat consists of steep slopes on, or near mountains, with a clear view of the surrounding area.

Diet

Desert Bighorn Sheep are ruminants, which allow them to digest grass, even when it is dried out. They are mostly diurnal and eat on and off throughout the day. They feed on grasses, sedges, and forbs. They also browse on shrubs and trees like the desert ironwood when food is scarce. Desert Bighorn Sheep need to drink water every three days in the summer. They do however get much of their required moisture from the food they eat.

Meat

Desert Bighorn Sheep meat tastes very similar to mutton.

Behavior

Ewes and rams usually gather in same sex groups, and go their separate way when they are not breeding. During the summer lamb-rearing season ewes stay in the upper levels of the mountains. In late fall and early winter the rams will gather up to 12 ewes into a harem. They don't defend territories, but battle with other males over mating access to the females. Rams charge at each other smashing their heads together in impressive and loud battles. Age and the size of its horns determine the dominant status of a ram. Males usually don't mate until they are seven years old. Mating usually takes place between July and December. The female's gestation period lasts about 174 days after which 1-3 lambs are born. The female select a steep and safe area for the birth and rearing of her lambs. The lambs are able to quickly follow their mother after only a week. Within a few weeks the lambs gather in small bands of their own, and only search out their mothers to suckle. They are completely weaned after 4-6 months. The females are led by an old ewe and young females usually remain with their mother's group, but the males leave when they are 2-4 years old to join a group of rams. The average life span of a Desert Bighorn Sheep is approximately 9 years. A disease has been documented in Mojave and Sonoran Desert Bighorn Sheep, which result in high death rates for lambs from pneumonia. This disease can continue for several years and results in large population declines.

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