Rocky Mountain Bighorn
(Adopted 1961)

A thick-necked sheep with a creamy white rump. The Bighorn is larger and dark brown in the northern U.S. and Canadian Rockies and smaller and pale tan in south western deserts. Males feature massive coiled horns that spiral back, out, and then forward, forming a full curl. Females have shorter, thinner horns, resembling those of Mountain Goat. Bighorns live on mountain slopes, in meadows, and in rugged rocky areas with few trees. Males engage in serious butting contest in fall, when the sounds of their crashing heads can be heard over a mile away. Bighorns are best seen at Death Valley, Yellowstone, and Glacier.