Sometimes when I see certain animals, a human name for them pops into my head... especially when I see the same individual repeatedly. Among the nearly 22 bighorn sheep in this herd that I've been photographing the past several weeks, I'm able to identify the three largest males very distinctly. Atlas and Adonis seem fitting for the largest two, and Anthony perhaps for the up and coming "teenager". The dominant male, Atlas, is such an impressive, strong and calm leader in the herd. Even though Atlas is clearly the biggest/strongest physically, Adonis seems to lead the group in a lot of other ways. Perhaps that's because Atlas is so chill, but Adonis really seems to lead the whole herd while they graze on the slopes even though he's second in command.
The quirky personalities, relationships and herd hierarchy are all fun to watch play out over time. The third-largest male is bursting with energy and playfully challenges Adonis, even though there's no question who the boss is between the two. Two ewes butt heads regularly, but most of them have shown no aggression to each other. A couple ewes are also clear leaders. When there's a prized grazing or resting spot, the hierarchy gets clear -- but this herd has very little conflict and posturing compared with other herds I've seen elsewhere. I'm surprised that Atlas never seems to push his weight around at all. Other big rams that I've seen can sometimes be very pushy and authoritative. Atlas just seems to fit right in place and nobody challenges him, but he also doesn't take issue with much/anything at all (at least from what I've seen).
It's all too tempting to keep visiting them, since I'm able to find them so reliably lately. Weather has been good, and the herd has become really really accustomed to seeing me in their territory. I'm glad to see that the twin lambs and potentially all of the herd survived the -15 F degree temps a couple weeks ago. I haven't seen the entire herd the last few visits, but it's very difficult to see them all at once in this type of terrain because a handful of individuals are almost always obscured from view. To be continued...
