Bighorn Valentines

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 10, 201664 views3 comments

Well, I must confess romance in the ungulate world can be a bit on the rough side at times!

This ram had been nuzzling, nudging and grunting this ewe until she finally stood up. Invariably during the mating season, ewes will pee after being pressed to stand by a ram, letting the ram test her scent and determine if she is ready to mate. As you can see, he decided she was! It's sadly a little hard to make out (and it's at least as hard in colour, in case you wondered--and yes, I've done a bit of dodging and adjustments to bring it out as much as possible while remaining faithful to the scene), but the ram's hoof and leg are extended up into the ewe's side here "pawing" at her in asking for a...hmmm...more preferable position.

Anyway, thought I'd share this "50 shades of grey" version of bighorn courtship. angel

As always, thanks in advance for your time, comments, critiques and suggestions. Drop by the larger version if you have time for a bit more detail.

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Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
ISO 1600
1/500sec @ f/5
-1 stop exposure from meter
Mounted on FEISOL CT-3372 Elite tripod with Acratech GV2 ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick
Cropped to full-height vertical from horizontal

Comments

3 comments

Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on February 10, 2016 at 6:05 PM

Catching behavior is always good, and this is no exception. You've got be going back through my bighorn stuff looking for crops I've missed.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 12, 2016 at 5:43 PM

Very cool behavior you captured nicely here John. I am not sure about the black and white here because for me the very bright areas (snow?) on the bottom pull my attention but I would have to see a color version to compare it to. devil

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on February 13, 2016 at 11:48 AM

I think you have some good stuff going here, John, as the BW approach lends a touch of graphic design appeal. I think you can go even further by cropping away some of the non-functioning bottom (half of the white space below) and then some proportional from the left. To me that would further emphasize the angles of faces, the sweep of horns and two well placed eyes. Also want to add you did a nice job with depth of field control.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments