Dall's sheep Ovis dalli dalli

Observed by vanloonmd, CC BY-NC

Almost half of all ewes in heat, on average, experience the trauma of blocking.

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

In other words, even in their heterosexuality, Mountain Sheep may be decidedly "homosexual".

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

In Bighorn and Thinhorn Sheep, males live in what one zoologist has described as "homosexual societies" where same-sex courtship and sexual activity occur routinely among all rams.

A male Bighorn Sheep in the Rocky Mountains mounting another male

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

A stone’s sheep (Ovis dalli stonei) sticks his tounge out and then looks to the camera.

STONE'S SHEEP The Stone's sheep or stone sheep is the more southern subspecies of thinhorn sheep, Ovis Dalli. BOOK YOUR CORE EXAM HERE The global population of Stone's sheep is primarily found in Northern British Columbia. It can often be seen licking minerals along the side of the Alaska Highway in areas such as Summit Lake, Stone Mountain Provincial Park, and Muncho Lake Provincial Park. Pelage colour variations range widely, from slate grey-brown with a white rump patch, dark tail and white on the inside of the hind legs, to an almost entirely white/grey-white coat with a dark or black dorsal surface on the tail. Horns are curved in form and vary in colour from yellowish-brown to dark brown horns. (at BC Firearms Academy - Surrey) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmhpmY_yVgB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Dall’s Sheep are Beautiful and Agile

Dall’s Sheep are Beautiful and Agile shows readers a Dall’s sheep ram up on a high cliff. It discusses the range, feeding habits, and social structure that these gorgeous animals are known for.

Dall’s Sheep One of the prettiest large animals that you can see in Alaska is the Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli). It is also sometimes known as the thinhorn sheep because even though rams in particular have good sized horns, they are thinner and finer than those of bighorn sheep (they also differ in coloration and occupy different ranges). Dall’s sheep can be found in Alaska, and in British Columbia,…

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Dall’s Sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) at the Calgary Zoo in 2004. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_OsPzrPHE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Stone sheep.

DENA dall sheep (via National Park Service, Alaska Region)

NPS/ K. Thoresen

thoughts and concerns, not a list of virus stats but a series of personal fears, related to the coronavirus below the cut

I had the sudden swift fear that I might not get to see my grandma again.

I went to the bathroom to cry it out a little, calm myself down.

I wrote those words out and started crying again.

I suddenly have the emotional excess to write. I don’t like that.

I’m terrified of my grandma dying, for the reason that I love her, for the reason that I know it’s coming and anticipation makes it worse, for the reason that she’s the last connection to my grandpa, who is dead, for the reason that I don’t know much about my family history and she does, for the reason that she is my last Mexican ancestor, for the reason that I never had enough time with her as a child.

My family is very good at enduring and doing. My family is not good at grief. I have been very focused on what we can do, relaying messages, transmitting the most accurate information about these things. I’ve been scarily calm throughout this all and I thought maybe I was getting better at managing my feelings. Maybe that’s true. Maybe it was also a delayed response. Maybe today I just got scared by new information. Maybe that’s still good emotional management - not fearing until I had something to be scared about.

I don’t know what I’m going to do if this happens. I know I’ll be sad. I think I might be angry. I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle my Trump-loving family if my grandma dies, knowing he shut down the pandemic response team. I want to come together with my family in grief, but I don’t know if I’ll have the strength of mind, the transformed heart to do so.

I just know I need to call my grandma tomorrow and talk to her and listen to her complain about staying indoors and complain about her neighbors and talk about her dog and ask her what her favorite memory is of me, my grandpa, my mom, her life.

I don’t know what to do with this preemptive grief. I have always carried this preemptive grief. It’s just closer to the surface right now.

Dall's sheep Ovis dalli dalli

Observed by rk_mining, CC BY-NC

Again, this is a typically female pattern, since ewes in these species generally do not permit rams to court or mount them except for the few days out of the year when they are in heat.

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

Transgendered males are physically indistinguishable from other rams, but behaviorally they resemble females. They remain in sex-segregated ewe herds year-round, they often adopt the crouching urination posture typical of females, and they are lower-ranking and less aggressive than most males and even many females (even though they are often larger in body and horn size, the typical criteria used to establish rank). Most significantly, transgendered rams do not usually allow other males to court or mount them.

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

Mountain Sheep live in sex-segregated bands, usually numbering 5-15 individuals.

"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl

A portrait of a stone sheep at the Assiniboine zoo