Ep. 132: Sheep on the Mountain

Published: 2018-09-03 10:00:00

Description Show ▼

Bozeman, MT- Steven Rinella talks with Gray Thornton, Garrett Long, and Clay Brewer of the Wild Sheep Foundation, along with Scott Peckham of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and Janis Putelis of the MeatEater crew. Subjects Discussed: Wolves, lynx, eagles, and other things that can be hell on wild sheep; thick and thin (horns, that is); the historic decline of wild sheep everywhere, including Texas; auto-immune diseases in sheep and lessons learned; wild sheep vs. the wool industry; wildlife terrorism; governor's tags, auction tags, and regular tags; a tribal perspective on destroying wild game; are you an a-hole for owning llamas; and more.

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Referenced Books

None

by None

Reference to a natural history book about Alaska written by a professor at University of Alaska at Fairbanks. The book discusses an eyewitness account of a lynx chasing and killing a dall ram. The specific title and author name were not recalled by the speaker.

Referenced at 00:00:08

Great Rams one to three

by Bob Anderson

Mentioned in discussion about Bob Anderson's work and interest in Birch Carson, a sheep inspector in Texas. The speaker indicates the audience is 'probably familiar with' this work.

Referenced at 00:00:08

The Desert Wonder

by Bob Anderson

A book written by Bob Anderson about Birch Carson, a taxidermist and World War II veteran who documented the decline of bighorn sheep in Texas. The speaker wrote the forward for this book. Anderson never published it as he was trying to figure out his audience. The title is stated uncertainly as 'something like the Desert Wonder or something like that.'

Referenced at 00:00:08

Journal of Trapper

by None

Referenced in discussion about historical descriptions of large numbers of mountain sheep in the Yellowstone Park area. The book contains descriptions of 'immense numbers of mountain sheep in the winter time' by someone who had seen the area in prime form.

Referenced at 00:00:08

Oregon Trail

by Francis Parkman

Steve discusses reading this book, noting that Parkman was a historian who wrote the definitive history of the French and Indian War at the time. Parkman traveled on the Oregon Trail in 1846 (Steve says 'eighty six'), spent time with the Oglala Sioux, and documented Native Americans hunting bighorn sheep by throwing rocks down at them.

Referenced at 00:00:08

Grizzlies in the Southwest

by David E. Brown

Steve mentions he is currently reading this book. He discusses how the first part of the book attempts to collate all cases where grizzlies were identified in the Southwest, and the challenges of interpreting historical terminology and records, such as from the Coronado expedition.

Referenced at 00:00:08