Chips of horn may fly and blood may ooze from ear and nose, but finally one of the battlers, exhausted or injured, lowers its head in submission and the winner strides away to claim the ewe. Both victor and vanquished earn the nose scars and blunted horns of a veteran bighorn battler. With nose elevated and their upper lip curled, rutting males follow any female in heat. They occasionally stop for butting jousts if other males begin to follow the same ewe. In spring after the annual migration back to the high country and after a 180 day gestation period, expectant ewes slip away to a sheltered ledge and give birth to a single well-developed lamb.
Newborn lambs have a soft, woolly, light-colored coat and small horn buds.
Bighorn sheep are found in the mountain ranges of southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico northward through Idaho and Montana and on into British Columbia. On cliffs, adult Bighorns can easily escape all but the cougars. Golden eagles attack young lambs whenever they find them unprotected. Here you can find information on the description, tracks, habitat, and behavior of bighorn sheep. This student project webpage provides pictures, information, and a drawing of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.