Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Festival
Few communities can boast that the symbol of Rocky Mountain wilderness grazes within their city limits. But that is exactly the case in Colorado Springs where Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep are often spotted on the ridges north of Garden of the Gods Park.
Origins of the Bighorn Festival
In late 2005, John Koshak of the Colorado Division of Wildlife encouraged the staff of Garden of the Gods Park, Visitor and Nature Center to organize an event to celebrate our official State Mammal. A “Bighorn Sheep Festival” would also highlight the 60th anniversary of the re-introduction of Bighorn Sheep to the Colorado Springs area. The inaugural Bighorn Festival was held on the Saturday of Presidents Day weekend in 2006. Even on a frigid day with single-digit temperatures, over a thousand people attended that first Festival. They were excited to gaze through powerful telescopes to observe the majestic Bighorn Sheep grazing on the rocky ridges of their natural habitat.
Bighorn Ram photo by Bret Tennis
In February 2010, I enjoyed attending the 5th Annual Bighorn Sheep Festival as a citizen, instead of being on the park staff. As in the last four years, the Bighorns attended their own Festival, basking in the winter sun on east-facing hillsides in clear view of the Visitor Center. In addition to observing huge bighorn rams, we visitors watched a separate herd of about 50 bighorn ewes grazing on sparse winter grasses farther up the mountain. Continue Reading »
On such a winter’s day
My thermometer read 22 degrees and the wind chill zero, yet the long rays of the sun beckoned me outside for a quick walk before sunset. I grabbed my camera, thinking I might see the red fox that often patrols our neighborhood park at this time of day. Except for the wind, all was quiet – no traffic on this late Sunday afternoon, no one walking their dog. Then a boy appeared on his bicycle, pedaled quickly to the middle of the park and dropped his bike. Unexpectedly, he launched a kite just as the sun dipped behind the mountains. In the cold wind, the kite climbed higher, its blue tail spiraling. Three silky black crows briefly shared the kite’s air space, cavorting as they flew westward. Suddenly, it didn’t seem like winter anymore.
