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A bighorn lamb and ewe rest in the shadows on a ridge above Sowbelly Creekin the Pine Ridge north of Harrison last July.

Alberta Bighorn Herd Growing in New Home

Photos and text by Eric Fowler

In the Pine Ridge north of Harrison, where this time last year there were no bighorn sheep and last

spring there were just 40, there are now 60.This rapid population growth in an area

historically home to bighorns began with the February release of 40 sheep that were trapped in

the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada, and brought here by the Nebraska Game and Parks

Commission. Of the 35 ewes and 5 rams that were relocated, 38 remain – one ewe was lost to stress

not uncommon in such moves. Another died after afall (they’re not always as sure-footed as they seem).

The herd grew in June when the ewes, most of which were pregnant when released, began having lambs. Of the 25 that were born, 22 have survived.

Other than a few short forays by wandering rams and the handful of sheep that have moved

to the ridge west of Sowbelly Creek, the sheep have remained close to the release site near the

intersection of Sowbelly and Pants Butte roads. “That may change as the rut picks up here, but we’ll see,” said Todd Nordeen, district wildlife manager for the Commission, referring to the

breeding season now underway and which often induces wanderlust in rams.

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Left: A bighorn ram stops in a beam of sunlight in Sowbelly Canyon. The Alberta sheep were fitted with radio collars so their movement could be tracked.

Above: A pair of lambs browse on plants growing from a rocky hillside.

Right: A pair of ewes and a lamb survey the landscape atop a butte.

Nordeen said even the ewes stayed relatively close to their home range when compared to those in other herds in the Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills, some of which move miles to isolated areas to lamb. “Surprisingly, some of the ewes gave birth while there were other sheep around,” he said.

The recent forest fires in the Pine Ridge didn’t strike this herd’s range, and despite drought the bighorns have found food and water.

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Above: A lamb tries to suckle on its mother as others play on the rocks.

Opposite: Lambs and ewes cross a point above Sowbelly Creek. While the 29,000-acre Thayer fire that burned through the area in 2006 wiped out the ponderosa pine forest, it made the area suitable for bighorn sheep.

“They did well through the drought, the fires, the record high temperatures – about the worst conditions we’ve had in Nebraska since we put bighorn sheep here,” Nordeen said.

The Barrel Butte bighorn herd, which roams the Pine Ridge between Chadron and Crawford, was displaced by a massive wildfire this summer, but only temporarily. Nordeen said not all of those sheep have been accounted for, but none of the radio-collared animals were lost to the fire and all moved back into their previous range soon after the fires were out.

If you want to catch a glimpse of the Harrison bighorns, Nebraska’s newest herd, there’s a good chance you can spot them from Pants Butte Road, but take your binoculars and be sure to stay on the road, as all of the land there is private. ■