CABI ram, ewe, lamb portrait (soty15)
California Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae), below Westside Road, near Kelowna, BC.
No one should misunderstand what we're seeing here.
Bighorn rams seek to inseminate as many ewes as they can.
The rams fight each other in brutal battles, smashing their heads into the others’. Eventually, one retreats and the victor has won the power to 'rule' the herd. Among the rams and ewes there is not, according to anything I've uncovered, any kind of family relationship similar to that of a hyoomin family.
Please do not 'sentimentalize' this image....
For those who wondered, how I get so close, there's no mystery! These gorgeous animals, protected in this area, are so used to human presence that while they enable us non-hunters to get great looks and opportunities for photos, they endanger themselves every time they venture across the road and into this public pasture just above Okanagan Lake.
I make no apologies for how easy my task is; like my son who is a hunter, but worries about these animals as he might about his own livestock, I am concerned that the animals are extremely vulnerable, not only to vehicular traffic but to diseases they could acquire due to their proximity to domestic sheep in the area.
CABIs are more fragile than they or most hyoomins realize....
FINALLY, for those who think I'm a hypocrite for pursuing them, let me say, that both sets of photos from this fall were made while I needed to use Westside Road for other purposes.... I had the chance, therefore, to record the CABIs' presence, and I took it. I hope that, some time in the future, these shots do not end up being featured in a gallery of "The Way It Was, Once Upon A Time."
CABI ram, ewe, lamb portrait (soty15)
California Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae), below Westside Road, near Kelowna, BC.
No one should misunderstand what we're seeing here.
Bighorn rams seek to inseminate as many ewes as they can.
The rams fight each other in brutal battles, smashing their heads into the others’. Eventually, one retreats and the victor has won the power to 'rule' the herd. Among the rams and ewes there is not, according to anything I've uncovered, any kind of family relationship similar to that of a hyoomin family.
Please do not 'sentimentalize' this image....
For those who wondered, how I get so close, there's no mystery! These gorgeous animals, protected in this area, are so used to human presence that while they enable us non-hunters to get great looks and opportunities for photos, they endanger themselves every time they venture across the road and into this public pasture just above Okanagan Lake.
I make no apologies for how easy my task is; like my son who is a hunter, but worries about these animals as he might about his own livestock, I am concerned that the animals are extremely vulnerable, not only to vehicular traffic but to diseases they could acquire due to their proximity to domestic sheep in the area.
CABIs are more fragile than they or most hyoomins realize....
FINALLY, for those who think I'm a hypocrite for pursuing them, let me say, that both sets of photos from this fall were made while I needed to use Westside Road for other purposes.... I had the chance, therefore, to record the CABIs' presence, and I took it. I hope that, some time in the future, these shots do not end up being featured in a gallery of "The Way It Was, Once Upon A Time."