Searching For the Elusive

It is Fall in Wyoming. The aspens and river willows are glowing in shades of gold, the Clark’s Nutcrackers are busily collecting and hiding pine nuts, and the honeybees are visiting the last blooms of the asters with urgency. It is a time of transition for many animals living in the Wind River Mountains, who migrate into the foothills as the green meadows of the high country turn white with snow. For those searching for large mammals, either with bow, rifle, or binoculars, this is the time for the hunt.

Last week, members of the sophomore Field Science course and I went on our own search for the elusive Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Bighorn sheep are generally hard to find because of their preference for high elevations and rocky terrain not often traversed by the average hiker. Our search was focused in Whisky Basin, located about 70 miles north of Lander, where the largest herd of Rocky Mountain bighorns spend their winter. We spent the morning with our binoculars raised to the stony crags above us scanning for sheep.

As we turned a bend in the dirt road, there stood four bighorn ewes, about 100 feet from us, at a natural mineral lick near the creek. We observed the ewes for about twenty minutes as they returned to the rocky bands above us. Although the students and I had spent time reading about the natural history of bighorn sheep, as I gazed at the smiles and awe on the students’ faces, I realized no field guide could replace the experience of directly observing an animal.  The beauty of God’s creation, His First Book, is read in another way.

Dr. Teresa Tibbets is Adjunct Professor of Field Science at Wyoming Catholic College.