Foraging Behavior of Female Mountain Sheep in Western Arizona
- 1 January 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by JSTOR in The Journal of Wildlife Management
- Vol. 51 (1) , 99-104
- https://doi.org/10.2307/3801637
Abstract
We studied foraging behaviors of mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) in the Harquahala and Little Harquahala Mountains, Arizona during 1984. Ewes in the poorly-vegetated Little Harquahala Mountains foraged lower on slopes and moved more while foraging than did ewes in the Harquahala Mountains. In contrast, ewes in the Harquahala Mountains devoted more time to feeding during foraging bouts. Foraging by ewes increased with group size in the Harquahal Mountains. Single ewes and ewes in small groups (.ltoreq. 3) in both ranges stood longer without foraging during foraging bouts than did ewes in larger groups. Seasonal variation in group sizes was evident in mountain sheep in the Little Harquahala Mountains with the largest groups occurring in fall. Sheep group sizes increased as terrain ruggedness decreased.This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
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