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Tag Archives: wildlife

We went on an outing to see if we could find some wintering birds the other day. They are few and far between here at home except at the feeders. Imagine our surprise when we found four bighorn sheep right alongside the road. There was a ram, two ewes and a youngster. At first we thought they had pawed into the snow to find food but as we watched, we realized that they were licking dirt. I wonder if it’s a natural salt lick or if it has some other sort of mineral they need? Regardless, they were intent on what they were doing and did not leave as we watched and photographed. At one point, the big ram moved away from his dirt hole and the youngster started in on it. Shortly, the male came along and butted the little one on the butt, telling them to get out of his hole.

While I feel like I spent all of June working, I did get out on a few short adventures. Going through my big photo dump, I was reminded about seeing mountain goats at the salt lick. These photos were made from my car window. Mountain goats, despite their appearance, are potentially quite dangerous. Last year, our friends’ leashed dog was gored by one on a popular hiking trail. I only see goats at the salt lick in the early summer and they are not very attractive and the light is always crummy but still, they are kind of cute with sweet eyes and the baby does look almost hugable.