While the elk rut has wound down to a close, the season continues with various other species throughout the state. Moose and mule deer are well into their own mating seasons which will last into November. Another fun and sometimes quite dramatic animal to observe this time of year, and one that enjoys a later start in their rut, is our state animal, the bighorn sheep.

While a similar trait of all the various wild ungulate species we enjoy in Colorado is that the females typically choose who they will mate with, just how a male knows a female is ready relies on a couple key factors. One of which is the simple behavior of the female in accepting the males’ amorous approaches, but another more subtle method is that of scents and pheromones. All creatures, humans included, are hard wired to give off as well as sense these subtle signals of natural and subconscious communication. Some are more gifted than others in their ability to pick up a clearer picture of said communication.

These animals are gifted with a specialized olfactory organ known as the vomeronasal organ. Many different animals have this organ, from snakes and lizards to a wide variety of mammals, but the process with which it is used is more notably displayed with mammals, generally due to having facial musculature that provides a somewhat comical display as the organ is utilized. The organ is located above the roof of the mouth, with ducts found just behind the front teeth (or in the case of bighorn sheep, where top teeth would be if they had them, which interestingly they don’t).

The animal will curl back its upper lip, often with a bit of neck extension, and draw deep “sniffs”, opening the ducts and allowing the inhaled air to travel into the ducts and thus to the vomeronasal organ which is finely tuned to better pick up the scents and pheromones and interpret a potential state of readiness to mate. Often, this behavior gives the appearance of a cheeky grin as they draw deeply and is known as the Flehmen Response.

While the method is used all year round for various reasons, during the rut this behavior is extremely common as the males strut among the females, constantly “testing the air” to determine if any might be ready to mate. In the case of these two handsome rams, while they seemed to be keeping to themselves, there was a band of ewes and young behind me on a hillside that drew their interest. They spent much of their time taking deep whiffs as the gentle autumn breeze carried those invisible pheromones down the canyon past me, to better “keep a good nose” on the situation.

Our positioning also allowed the photo to display the other trait I mentioned above in the ram not having any top teeth. I can only assume that evolution has taken top teeth out of the equation since any teeth that ancient generations may have had were likely repeatedly knocked out from the dramatic head bashing they are well known for this time of year, thus rendering them unnecessary in the grand scheme of life.

Information for this article came from https://www.biologyonline.com/ dictionary/flehmen-response.

For additional information about James DeWalt Photography, check out https://jamesdewaltphotography.com.