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Show Sheep Transplanted "Mountain sheep get hooked hook-ed on apple masn," says Jense. "We had about 60 sheep watching us bait the trap and we were hardly able to get our trucks out of the way before the sheep started moving in." Two veterinarians were on hand at the trapping site, where blood samples were taken and penicillin shots administered. The 21 sheep were trapped one morning, transported to Utah in two horse trailers and released the next morning in the paddock on Mt. Neb. rgy is hopeful that transplants trans-plants within the state may also be in the future of the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep program. While antelope ante-lope were being trapped on Parker Mountain, other Wildlife Resources biologists were cooperating with Wyoming Wyo-ming Game and Fish biologists biolo-gists near Dubois, Wyoming, in trapping 21 bighorn sheep to infuse with Utah's small population on Mt. Nebo in Juan Countv. "Our goal is to reestablish sheep in Utah. When sufficient suffi-cient numbers are established, establish-ed, mature rams may be hunted," says Jense. Presently, the Rockv Moun tain Sheep are thriving well in their new environment. Recently, 23 sheep from the 1981 transplant, including four lambs born on Mt. Nebo, were spotted near the paddock where they were kept for the first several months fater the transplant. Last year, 10 of the 27 transplanted sheep were mature ma-ture ewes. Unlike antelope, which are high strung and usually must be driven into portable netted corrals with the aid of - a helicopter, the mountain sheep were trapped easily and quickly under a drop net. Apple mash as bait did the trick. Utah Wildlife Resources biologists braved frigid temperatures tem-peratures and blowing and drifting snow to transplant 21 bighorn sheep and over 100 antelope into several important areas of Utah once inhabited by these species Big game must be transplanted transplan-ted when conditions are right. In winter, animals are concentrated in larger numbers num-bers and are more willing to come into areas baited with food. Thirty-four years of careful antelope transplants in Utah have resulted in productive antelope populations in many areas of the state and the ability to transplant Utah antelope from existing herds to parts of the state where no populations exist. Grant Jense, big game coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Resour-ces of the Department of Natural Resources and F.ne- |