Mystery Fact Cards

Cut the facts apart on lines and give one to each student.

When grazing, bighorn sometimes eat small land snails by accident.

The autopsies revealed that the dead bighorns had
pneumonia-causing bacteria

The lungworm larvae can move across the placenta from the pregnant ewe into its fetus.

Autopsies revealed dead bighorn were founds to have parasites called lungworms.

Lungworms form open sores in the lungs.

The elk hunters were riding snowmobiles. Bighorn are easily spooked by the presence of these noisy machines. They get nervous.

During cold weather, bighorn sheep spend lots of energy trying to stay warm. their caloric needs increase.

Heavy snows make travel difficult for bighorn. Herds begin to congregate on the few pieces of bare ground (or shallow snow accumulation areas) available.

Young lungworm larvae are excreted in bighorn sheep fecal pellets.

During the summer, bighorn sheep stay at high elevations on public lands eating nutritious alpine plants. When winter snows arrive, they typically move down onto private lands in the valleys and canyons.

The breeding season for bighorn sheep is November and December. Rams actively fight for the right to breed ewes.

Pneumonia causes bighorn sheep's' lungs to fill up with mucous. they try to cough it out.

The larval stage of the lungworm travels from the bighorn's stomach to its lungs.

During winter bighorn paw through the snow to eat grass. This is tiring.

Diseases spread easily among herds in crowded conditions.

Even healthy bighorn sheep have the bacteria that causes pneumonia.

Generally speaking, only unhealthy wild animals allow humans to get close.

The larval stage of the lungworm is found in small land snails.

Bacteria that cause pneumonia can only cause this disease if it finds open sores in the lungs.

Healthy bighorn sheep rarely get diseases. Young or physically stressed animals are more likely to succumb to diseases.

Ranchers grazed large numbers of cattle on their private lands in canyon/valley bottoms during the summer.

Once in the lungs, the lungworms mate and lay eggs. When the eggs hatch, the young larvae are coughed up and swallowed.

High activity levels tire and stress bighorns.

During the summer, one rancher sold some of her valley land to a real estate developer. A few homes were built that summer. A few more are planned.