Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Sheep

Mountain Sheep at Lake Minnewanka, near Banff, taken on May 20th. "The bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to 30 pounds (14 kg), while the sheep themselves weigh up to 300 pounds (140 kg). Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae. Sheep originally crossed to North America over the Bering land bridge from Siberia: the population in North America peaked in the millions, and the bighorn sheep entered into the mythology of Native Americans. However, by 1900 the population had crashed to several thousand. Conservation efforts (in part by the Boy Scouts) have restored the population. ..... The Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep is the provincial mammal of Alberta and the state animal of Colorado and as such is incorporated into the symbol for the Colorado Division of Wildlife." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bighorn_sheep YouTube link for the latest video of the three beautiful, endangered Amur Tiger cubs at the Calgary Zoo. How they have grown! Posted on YouTube on May 30th 2012. youtu.be/c4fSvtRHLBM

Rather harsh lighting, but we were lucky to see several Mountain Sheep on August 1st, when Flickr friends Ron and Trish invited me to go with them for a wonderful drive as far as Field, B.C. (British Columbia). This was taken out of the car window - no steep mountain sides for me to climb on this day, just the luxury of being driven and a few short walks : )

I could barely see (with the naked eye) these Mountain Sheep silhouetted aginst the sky, standing on a very distant mountain ridge - thank goodness for friends with binoculars! Zoomed in x18 and cropped and managed to get a photo that it just worth posting, LOL! I just found it fascinating to see these animals up so high on a barren mountain side - even though I know that's what they do : ) This was taken along the Pocaterra Cirque Trail, Kananaskis, two days ago, before the sky opened and the rain came down.

Jan - I thought of you the instant I looked this Mountain Sheep in the eyes!! There was this black heart standing out so clearly on its white nose. This family of Mountain Sheep live in the Canadian Wilds area of the Calgary Zoo.