July 2024

Waterhole Count Results

On July 2nd and 3rd, the Institute, along with our team of amazing volunteers, successfully conducted our annual waterhole count in the northern Santa Rosa Mountains near Rancho Mirage. The weather was ideal for sheep being thirsty with higher humidity and temperatures reaching 111°.  Peninsular bighorn can go up to three days in over 100° temperatures without drinking water, which is why we do the count in the heat of summer over multiple days.  We saw a total of 84 bighorn sheep, 22 of which were lambs.  This is a 20% increase in the number of sheep we saw last year and many more lambs, which is encouraging for herd growth.  We also saw more rams this year, which helps us see how the overall population is doing and all signs look positive. It was a great count and we’re incredibly grateful to our volunteers who helped make it happen!

The Rut Is On

The rut, or breeding season, for bighorn sheep is in full swing and we observed plenty of rams chasing ewes during our recent waterhole count. The rut for Peninsular bighorn sheep typically extends from July through November here in the desert.  Rams can lose up to 25% of their body weight traveling miles searching for ewes to breed, sometimes even crossing ranges.   We are eager to observe the rams more regularly now that the rut is on since it helps us to see how the population is doing.

La Quinta Mortalities

July was a tough month for sheep in La Quinta and several sheep died at PGA West and Lake Cahuilla, despite the new fence.  Two lambs died at PGA West, disease likely played a role, and an adult ewe drowned at Lake Cahuilla.  We’re disappointed that a stronger effort hasn’t been made to find where the sheep are breaching the fence.  Hopefully, these deaths will be a wake-up call to those in charge.  We also documented the first known urban death at Tradition; a lamb drowned in a pool there.  We expected the sheep to use Tradition and The Quarry more with the new fence along PGA West and Lake Cahuilla and with that comes an increased risk of urban deaths.  While there’s currently no plan for a fence along Tradition and The Quarry, we’re hopeful that this lamb death will provide some much-needed motivation to install a fence along these golf courses as well.  Tradition is particularly important to fence off since the sheep often wander onto Washington and Avenue 52, very busy and dangerous streets for the sheep and motorists.  We’ll be talking with the wildlife agencies about these issues to see what can be done.

Wine Down Wednesday Fundraiser a Success

The Institute was the charity of choice for the Marker Broadcasting KOOL 95.9 Wine Down Wednesday fundraiser on July 24th at The Hideout, and it was a great success! The place was packed, the food and drinks were delicious and all enjoyed a rousing raffle with fun prizes. Special thanks to Meg and Todd Marker and Marker Broadcasting for including the Institute in this event and supporting the sheep.

Other Ways to Support BI

Want to help support the sheep and offset extra income tax?!  Bighorn Institute is able to receive your required minimum distributions (RMD) and stock donations.   These are easy ways to support our research and conservation efforts for the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep AND pay less taxes, a win-win!  If you’re interested in donating and have questions, please email us bi@bighorninstitute.org or call 760-346-7334.