Shirley and I have met a surprising number of travelers and tourists who just don't know what it is they are looking at. Can't tell a fox from a coyote from a wolf, or a deer from an elk from a moose. Perhaps we are just too easily surprised. Just because some people care about that kind of thing doesn't mean that everybody should. Still, as soon as people have an animal encounter that seems worthy of describing to the folks back home, their interest suddenly rises. There remains, however, a sizable group who believe the distinction is a mere technicality.( Oh, of course, that's a deer but is it a white-tail deer, a black-tail deer or a mule deer?) Or like the woman in Yellowstone, there are those who are content to just call an elk a "big brown thing."
While coping with the corona virus sequestration, I sought consolation in reviewing old travel photos. Here are some of sheep and goats that you might find mildly interesting. Then again, you might be just so bored out of your mind after being cooped up that even pictures of sheep and goats are worth a couple minutes.
Just for the record, the easiest way to tell a sheep from a goat at long distance is by color: bighorn sheep are brown; mountain goats are white. Closer up, bighorn sheep--especially the rams--have big, curvy horns. Goats have smaller, spikier horns. Speaking of closer up, if you are willing to take a little walk in the park you increase your chances of a close encounter. We have seen people with powerful binoculars and spotting scopes trying to get a fleeting glimpse of animals on a cliff side three miles away. Meanwhile, Shirley and I have met them literally plopped down right in the trail. Literally. See for yourself. (That last sentence is what the TV news people call a tease to keep you tuned in. The "plopped down in the trail" photos are not right up front.)
Perhaps our most memorable encounter was on a narrow stretch of the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park on our way back from Granite Park Chalet. We came around a bend and there was a herd of bighorns coming right towards us. No place for us to get out of the way--straight up on the left, straight down on the right. No matter. The lead ram took the herd just a few feet up the cliff face where they patiently and politely waited for us to pass.
These are bighorn ewes and lambs close enough to satisfy many tourists.
Can you even tell what these are? You do see some some kind of animal, right? This was shot with a 300mm lens. Without the telephoto the sheep just blended into the rocky cliff side.
But you clearly see that these are mountain goats because...
they are white with those spiky horns.
One of the great things about goats is they only hang out in the
nicest of places. So, even if you don't see any, all is not lost.
If you are in Yellowstone and willing to climb Mt. Washburn, there can be even more satisfying results.
Looking a little scruffy with tag ends of her winter coat.
Even the ewes can have occasional head-butting disagreements.
There is a fire tower on Mt. Washburn because you can see forever.
Sometimes you don't even need to climb to the top of the mountain.
We met these sheep much farther down on the slopes of Mt. Washburn.
Though we normally associate bighorns with the peaks or slopes of
high mountains, these were at Badlands National Park in South Dakota
feeding out in the prairie.
In Arizona, we have seen desert bighorns that are leaner and better adapted to hot, arid conditions.
If you were headed to Alaska, you might find them right along the road or even in the road.
Pop quiz with trick question: these are brown but they have spiky horns, so what are they?
Not bighorns but Stone sheep, though the rams do come with impressive headgear.
They come down the mountain to lick salt from the road.
These sheep were in Colorado.
The rams hung back while the ewes and lambs continued down the trail.
They did not appear threatening but seemed to be on rear guard duty.
No comments:
Post a Comment