What are bighorn sheep?

The Bighorn is the wild sheep of North America.  They live in the highest parts of the rocky mountains, where other animals find it difficult to go.  They are sometimes called Rocky Mountains sheep.

These sure-footed creatures are able to make death-defying leaps from rock to rock in the dizzy heights of the highest parts of their rugged mountain homes.  The Bighorn gets its name from the great circling horns of the male sheep.

Their cloven hooves are much like rubber pads, and they can dash down the treacherous slopes at top speed and climb seemingly sheer cliffs, where no other animals but the mountain goats dare to climb.

Bighorn Sheep

Lambs two or three weeks old can go wherever their mothers go.  Wild sheep do not look much like any of the sheep we raise today.

Domestic sheep have short legs and a coat of thick wool.  Their horns, if any, are usually short.

Wild sheep have long legs and long horns.  They do not have wooly coats.  They have coats of hair more like that of a deer.

Man has brought about great changes in sheep since he first tamed them. – Dick Rogers

What is a chamois?

Chamois

The chamois [pronounced SHAM ee] is a small, shy goat like antelope that lives in the high mountain of Europe and Western Asia.  It is about the size of a domestic goat.

The long, pointed hooves of this sure-footed creature are hollowed, or cupped, allowing it to make death-defying leaps from rock to rock and cling to the steep slopes of its ragged mountain home.

Chamois live in small herds  when feeding they post a sentinel which warns of the approach of danger by stamping and making a whistling sound that will send the whole world herd dashing off.

Chamois escape by leaping across wide ravines and racing at top speed up or down seemingly sheer cliffs, where few other animals can go.

A soft leather known as “shammy” or “chamois cloth” was once  made from chamois skin.  But because the chamois is rare, most shammies are now made from sheep skin instead. – Dick Rogers