Big Horn, small foot by David Barr

Big Horn, small foot by David Barr

The Desert Bighorn sheep are truly amazing and majestic creatures! With their slender legs and small hooves, they seem quite top heavy. Weighing in at around 200 lbs, and only around 40″ tall at the shoulder, they are astonishingly agile and graceful, and can run as fast as 40 mph! Their rubber-like hooves allow excellent mobility on steep rock faces providing them with remarkable stability while climbing. Until fairly recently, it was very unusual to see them at all in California unless you were high in the desert hills of a remote area. However, the shortage of rainfall has forced them to come into lower elevations to seek water.

David Barr: Photos