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, the Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territory in Canada. They live in arctic and subarctic mountain ranges in areas that have tundra, grassy meadows, and steep, rocky cliffs. They usually have two ranges, a winter range and a summer range; both on one mountain. They migrate between the two allowing them to find the best forage most of the year. Generally, summer ranges consist of grassy meadows where they browse on grasses, sedges, and even low hanging trees. During the winter, they tend to go onto slopes that are less snowy where they forage on twigs, dried grasses, lichens, and mosses. Rocky cliffs are usually near either range and are used to keep away from predators.

Most of the year Dall’s sheep live in small bands of either mature rams or ewes, lambs, and immature rams. The bands tend to live separately except during rutting season between November and December and sometimes during the spring when bands sometimes meet up at salt lick areas. We found this guy on the cliffs overlooking the Seward Highway, which is one of several recommended spots to look for them. We actually saw several of them, but many of them were hardly more than white spots on the uppermost cliffs. This one was still quite a ways up there, but at least you could tell it was a four legged animal even without binoculars. These photos aren’t the greatest, but I was actually pleased with how well they came out given the distance. He didn’t stick around long, so there was no time to get the telephoto lens on the camera. Still, I was happy to get to see them, since they aren’t something you will see just anyplace.