Bighorn Sheep in Yakima Canyon

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BobH

Administrator
Staff member
One of the guys I work with drove through the Yakima Canyon last night (10/31) and he said he saw probably 100 Bighorn Sheep in the canyon, including a dozen or so big males with large curled horns. We have a job over there, and he's been doing the trip weekly, but he said this trip had a lot more than usual. Not sure if the weather is driving them lower or what.
 

squirl033

Super Moderator
Staff member
One of the guys I work with drove through the Yakima Canyon last night (10/31) and he said he saw probably 100 Bighorn Sheep in the canyon, including a dozen or so big males with large curled horns. We have a job over there, and he's been doing the trip weekly, but he said this trip had a lot more than usual. Not sure if the weather is driving them lower or what.

What part of the canyon were they in? I might have to try to schedule a trip over there...
Also, not sure who the newbie is that just joined, but someone probably should tell him most of us don't speak Russian... That or he's a spammer...
 

Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
What part of the canyon were they in? I might have to try to schedule a trip over there...
Also, not sure who the newbie is that just joined, but someone probably should tell him most of us don't speak Russian... That or he's a spammer...


Most likely a spammer. I removed the message. Using the "spam-o-matic" feature, I removed another post in Russian and banned the author on another thread.

Getting back to the desert bighorns, I have seen them on the hillsides above what I call the lower canyon, the stretch next to Hwy. 821 between Thrall and Selah. I have also seen a video of them at water level in the same location taken by the engineer of a passing train.
 
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squirl033

Super Moderator
Staff member
Most likely a spammer. I removed the message. Using the "spam-o-matic" feature, I removed another post in Russian and banned the author on another thread.

Getting back to the desert bighorns, I have seen them on the hillsides above what I call the lower canyon, the stretch next to Hwy. 821 between Thrall and Selah. I have also seen a video of them at water level in the same location taken by the engineer of a passing train.
Thanks, Bill.. Just realized, the OP was from 2013. I didn't notice the date, thought it was recent, and was curious where the sheep had been seen. <facepalm>
 

BobH

Administrator
Staff member
When pneumonia first began sweeping through the bighorn sheep along the Yakima River Canyon in the winter of 2009-10, state wildlife biologists knew they could lose them all.

Similar outbreaks all but wiped out three herds in the Blue Mountains and in the Hells Canyon area of the Snake River between Idaho and Oregon.

But rather than euthanize them all to prevent the outbreak from spreading — as had been done in Hells Canyon — state experts decided to try something different: Kill only the ones that were obviously sick, and see if that worked.

For a while, the plan seemed to be working.

But it didn’t.

The pneumonia is back and killing the lambs again.

“The (number of lambs in) the southwest end of the canyon looked decent, but the lambs were dying in front of us,” said state Department of Fish and Wildlife wildlife biologist Jeff Bernatowicz, one of several experts who earlier this week conducted visual surveys of the five sub-herds in different areas of the canyon.

Full Story Here:
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/lo...cle_525c2b8e-5dc1-11e5-9007-2fd1106fd77f.html
 
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squirl033

Super Moderator
Staff member
[FONT="][COLOR=#444444]When pneumonia first began sweeping through the bighorn sheep along the Yakima River Canyon in the winter of 2009-10, state wildlife biologists knew they could lose them all.[/COLOR]
[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT="]Similar outbreaks all but wiped out three herds in the Blue Mountains and in the Hells Canyon area of the Snake River between Idaho and Oregon.
[/FONT]

[FONT="]But rather than euthanize them all to prevent the outbreak from spreading — as had been done in Hells Canyon — state experts decided to try something different: Kill only the ones that were obviously sick, and see if that worked.


For a while, the plan seemed to be working.

But it didn’t.

The pneumonia is back and killing the lambs again.

“The (number of lambs in) the southwest end of the canyon looked decent, but the lambs were dying in front of us,” said state Department of Fish and Wildlife wildlife biologist Jeff Bernatowicz, one of several experts who earlier this week conducted visual surveys of the five sub-herds in different areas of the canyon.


[/FONT]

Full Story Here:
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/lo...cle_525c2b8e-5dc1-11e5-9007-2fd1106fd77f.html

This is so sad...
 
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