Show Bighorn Ba g hero Shee Sheep Being Trapped T To Save Herds COLORADO SPRINGS The Rocky Mountain M bighorn normally a carefree animal which oaks asks nothing more of life than a of fresh air and a few simple sim sim- simple simple vittles is learning that life I e can be hideous The state game and nd fish Ush depart depart- department department ment has rigged up a fancy Fu Manchu type trap near here to kidnap the bighorns from the theother mother other herd This trap consists of f a gate drop-gate which spans the natural walls wall of Tarry Tarryall all canyon and yards of ot wire stretched up one canyon wall wan wanto to a point of concealment The Tho sheep trot through tl e a gate into the dead end of the canyon someone yanks the wire vire and the gate falls behind them Next morning morning the bighorns find themselves a couple of hundred miles upstate barking their shins on a clutter of unfamiliar rocks minus many of their dearest rela rela- relatives relatives relatives tives mouthed dry-mouthed from the bait of salt that lured them into the gate drop trap and probably pro ably hating themselves For Own wn Good G od Actually its it's all for the good of the bighorns but you can can an under under- understand understand understand stand their embarrassment emb The game and fish department has transplanted some 17 groups from the Tarryall herd establishing establish establish- ing new herds throughout the in Colorado The Th idea is simple There are about 1000 sheep in the mother herd near here and the food supply lichens leaves l a es and shrubs runs thin at times George W. W Jones the departments department's depart depart- departments department's departments department's ments ment's trapping sheep technician says the job is a ticklish one for several reasons reasons When you spring the trap you dont don't want more than 17 sheep in in- inside inside inside side it he says about all we can crowd into our truck at one time We try to snare two big old rams two young rams and the rest ewes That gives you an ideal start on a new herd after the trans trans- planting The old rams are smart and can keep the herd out of trouble Then when the old rams lose interest in the ewes the young ones are beginning to get family ideas s Court in November Bighorns do most of their courting court court- courting courting ing in November in a swirl of snow and sleet and assorted mixtures of both A really productive ewe drops only one lamb a year Because of this unspectacular r birthrate among the big curly curly- horned animals and the fact that tha they die by the hundreds if denied deniec their diet the 4 state must IPu coddle them th i Bach Back in the they theyan theyan ran an an short on chow became di dl ceased and threatened to die on oti completely Those that managed manage to survive looked sickly a and n d c clumsy hopping about the rocks The states state's total bighorn population population population lation today is between am and Jones says His hope is tha that te t the transplanting project will be b e successful enough to warrant a big big- bighorn bighorn bighorn horn hunting season in the nex next t decade or so o. o |