Last week, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials were called out to Boulder County where they found a bighorn sheep stuck on someone’s roof. “This is not the type of clatter you want to hear on your roof during December…” CPW wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) sharing photos from the incident. Officers were able to help the animal get safely back to ground-level. So in the event you find an extra adventurous ram on your roof, here are some fun facts about your unexpected house guest 🐏
- They’re great climbers thanks to their excellent eyesight and split hooves with rough, grippy bottoms.
- Male sheep (rams) AND female sheep (ewes) both grow horns. Ram horns can grow to be massive, curling back over the ears and up past the cheeks. Ewe horns are much smaller, never exceeding a half curl.
- Horn size dictates age, gender, and rank. They can weigh up to 30 pounds and are a sheep’s main form of defense.
- Rocky Mountain bighorns reside in grassy alpine meadows and along rocky cliffs and bluffs from Canada all the way down to New Mexico.
- Baby sheep (lambs) are born on high ledges to protect them from predators such as coyotes, wolves, and cougars — though they remain vulnerable to golden eagles.
- As herbivores, bighorn sheep eat mostly grass, leaves, twigs, and shrubs, but they also enjoy licking salty, mineral-covered rocks.
- The sound of two rams headbutting can travel up to a mile! They also have the stamina to butt heads with a rival for up to 24 hours.
Click Here for More Bighorn Sheep Facts (and Coloring Pages! 🖍️)
