All of these rams in one place make for pretty interesting lawn ornaments, eh?
Bighorn sheep are abundant in Colorado. Thanks to conservation efforts, the state’s population has surpassed 7,000. They can typically be found in the foothills and high mountains of the “Centennial State.” Or in some cases, like this one below, they can be found in the front yards of suburban homes.
And lounging around quite civily, might I add.
There’s not another animal that lives up to its name more than the ram. These animals never shy away from clashing their big horns together, which as you might imagine, is a very common occurrence. We’ve seen videos where two rams running full speed and clanking horns almost creates a gunshot-like sound, which can be shocking to hear.
In this footage shared by Colorado Wild Adventures, the rams were not clashing horns. Instead, they were bedded down in a yard, and making themselves quite at home in front of someone else’s home. There are many reasons why bighorn sheep will bed down like this, but the one that looks like it’s playing out in this video is a matter of digestion.
Rams are classified as ruminant, which means they are herbivorous and digest plants by regurgitating and re-chewing it as cud (hence the phrase “chewing cud”). So often times, they’ll lay down as a group and have a cud-chewing session. That’s what looks like is playing out here, considering most – if not all – of the rams can be seen smacking their mouths as they lay on the grass.
Sometimes outdoor videos go viral because there’s high-stakes, Animal Kingdom action. This is an exception. It might not be action-packed, but hey… maybe you learned about how rams digest their food? You learn something everyday, right? And what we can all learn from this video is that there’s nothing better than relaxing on the lawn and enjoying a bite to eat.
Just take it from this bachelor group of rams:
Nothing bothering those rams, that’s for sure.
If you look up “chillin'” in the dictionary, that’s the image/video that should pop up. It’s not uncommon at all to see a gathering of rams bedded down together like this. It is uncommon to see them choose such a suburban location. Whether they wandered into the are intentionally or unintentionally, the bighorn sheep seem to really love the setup.
Social media users were loving the behavior of the rams too. There were plenty of witty observations in the comment section like these:
“Looks like they are seated in the horn section.”
“That’s one way to keep the grass cut.”
“They are just sitting there like they own the property.”
“That house is in their yard.”
“HOA rules clearly state a maximum of 4 bighorn sheep per yard. I’m going to have to write you up.”
“I’d love to see them in my yard.”
You know what… having rams as permanent residents of your front yard wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. They’d provide entertainment and keep the grass short. Seems like a win-win for this Colorado homeowner.
