What's wrong with this Bighorn Ram?

[huntnphool]

Kinda looks to be the same as this one.

[JBar]

  Other than getting his ass kicked

I'm with Bone on this one, I think he got his ass whooped or took a tumble. It is weird though! 

[Pathfinder101]

Close to Naches you say?  I'm going with "physical affliction related to heavy meth use".

Agreed.  Looks like Meth to me...

[popeshawnpaul]

I think he is just a fighter.  He is banging those horns fighting hard.  Once one cracks, it eventually tears off if they keep fighting.  Once one is gone, if they keep fighting it weakens the other one and now it's cracked because the one horn now is taking all the hitting.  This ram is in prime fighting age and I'm guessing that's how he lost it.  Like a fingernail, I have heard of fungus or rot of the horns and maybe that is happening to this one.  My guess is most of the damage is done from fighting though.  It's actually pretty common.  I've seen it in rams all over from every heard.

Here are some examples:



This ram is cracked right where he fights.  If he kept fighting on that spot it would have developed a hole and eventually fell off.  This ram no longer fights or butts heads and you can see it's grown out now that he is past his prime.


Both of the rams on the right have problems like this on their horns.  The second ram from the right actually has a big hole on his right horn.  You can barely see it from this picture. 


When i get home I'll post more pictures of rams that have holes in the horns.  My best guess is they get the crack and that lets the horn rot in if that contributes to the problem. 

[popeshawnpaul]

By the way, I've seen green growing in the horn cracks before.  I think when it rains water accumulates in there and it begins to get green.  I think the crack happens and then the rot.  Then it further cracks from the weakening. 

[Pathfinder101]

OK, I am going to take the gospel from the pope on this one .  Pope knows his sheep...

[klickman]

Close to Naches you say?  I'm going with "physical affliction related to heavy meth use".

Thats hilarious.  HAHAHA

[starbailey]

Ive seen this ram several times in the last 7-8 years and we caught him in a bighorn capture in 05, I think. We put him back out as older rams don't transplant very well. He was missing big chunks out of his horns at that time and when I saw him again that summer he had "slipped" the one horn. If air gets to the membrane separating the core and horn it usually rots and the slip occurs.
I saw one ram down in Oregon that had slipped both horns and still lived 4-5 years be for he died of old age. He would have new horn growth every year but because he was an older ram it would only amount to less than an inch each year. He was an odd looking critter.
Bryan   

[270Shooter]

I saw him this winter a few times.

[elkoholic1]

im thinking meth or crack

[whacker1]

defintely Meth 

[pat2bear]

Wow! Didn't know we had such a bad meth reputation in Naches.  Although we are only 10 miles from crackima. 

[ICEMAN]

Actually it is a condition known as "visuadunghorn". Not many mature Rams develop the condition, but the ones that do are more suspectable to disease, lack status in the herd, and often suffer from horn envy.

[180-GRAIN]

Well he will defenitly die of old age, any smart hunter wont take him.

[tonymoe]

I know very little about sheep but is that what they call sinusitis? You read about it in some of the hunting mags.

+1