Bighorn Sheep Ram
A bighorn ram in profile, every growth ridge of the curl sharp. Bighorns keep their horns for life; a pair can weigh thirty pounds.
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A single bighorn ram fills the frame from the shoulder forward, in near profile against a soft bank of snow and winter scrub. One full curl of horn wraps back past the ear: every growth ridge is sharp, a scatter of wear scars along the leading edge, and the amber eye with its horizontal pupil is the only warm note in the frame.
These are true horns, not antlers: never shed, carried for life, curling round the face by about eight years of age, and weighing up to thirty pounds a pair. In northern climates the horn doubles as a record of age, each year's ring laid down under the stress of the winter rut.