August 1st is celebrated here as “Colorado Day,” the anniversary on which we officially became a state. President Ulysses S Grant issued a proclamation on August 1, 1876, “declaring the State admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States.” And with that, 100 years after the birth of the nation, the Centennial State joined the union.

The Bighorn Sheep is Colorado’s official animal and to me that is quite fitting. Just like the terrain and many of its people, these animals are very rugged, strong and tough.

The animal is found in many places in the state’s high country. Diseases from European livestock and overhunting had caused the animal’s population to drop precipitously by the early 1900s. Thankfully conservation efforts have been successful in helping the sheep rebound since then.

Oh how I wish the ladies of this species were as striking as their male counterparts but they simply are not. They are far smaller and oftentimes look kind of scraggly, particularly this time of year when they are still shedding their winter coat. Nevertheless, this morning I felt obligated to take this one’s picture as she seemed quite insistent about it.

This Bighorn Sheep lamb was proving itself to be quite the adept climber, as all of its kind are. It had worked its ways up the side of a mountain in Colorado’s Waterton Canyon, stopping briefly to pose and look down at the rest of its herd.

It almost seemed like it wasn’t sure how the heck to get down from its perch on high. Of course it had no problem when it decided to rejoin the others.

The Bighorn Sheep is the Centennial State’s official animal and to me that is quite fitting. Just like the terrain and many of its people, these animals are very rugged, strong and tough. The animal is found in many places in the state’s high country.

Just like a human child, young animals sometimes seem to revel in having their picture taken. Such was the case with this little lamb in the foothills southwest of Denver, Colorado recently.

While most of the herd ignored me, this one seemed to almost be begging to have its picture taken and of course I was happy to oblige.

Found across much of western North America, Bighorn Sheep are adept mountain climbers, best known for the male ram’s monstrous horns. While the animals are social, rams and ewes typically only meet during mating season. The young are kept on high ledges to help protect them from predators.

Who knew they could do this, eh? 😉 Most of the herd started on the opposite of the South Platte River from me but it wasn’t long before they crossed over. The rams and ewes waded across with out creating a splash but the little ones were not too keen on the depth and speed of the water so they tended to bound across pretty quickly. I was lucky enough to freeze the action of this one as it leaped. Lighting was horrendous with deep shadows but it was fun to see.

Forgive me for borrowing a couple of lines from an old Lynyrd Skynyrd song but that is what came to mind when I saw this. 😉

This Bighorn Sheep ram was clearly in the mood and was non-stop chasing a ewe around the canyon. She was not showing any interest and at one point stopped running to relieve herself. The ram got a good whiff of it and made this face.

This is in fact a behavior called the flehmen response. Many mammals will do this, curling their lips, raising their head and inhaling deeply allowing them to get a better sampling of a particular smell that interests them – kind of like a human taking a big whiff to smell something.