Observation ID: 56780

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Condition
Dead
Animal
Peninsular Bighorn Sheep
Identification Confidence
100% certain
Observation Date / Time

On Sunday April 1, 2007, at 0920 hrs a man witnessed a white Jeep Cherokee hit and kill a yearling bighorn ram on Hwy 74 near Carrizo Canyon at post mile marker 88.44. At 0930 hrs, the man reported the incident to the BLM National Monument Visitor Center. He had a picture of the dead ram on his digital camera and said it was at mile marker 44 (which is actually a tenth of a mile marker for mile marker 88). Institute biologists investigated the report and found the dead yearling ram in a ravine 20m down from the road approximately ½ mile northeast of the Carrizo Canyon pullout on the north side of Hwy 74. The ram carcass was facing downhill in a pile of rocks and there were blood stains on the rocks adjacent to the carcass and under the ram’s head. The only visible sign of trauma was on the ram’s mouth, which was covered in blood and was face down in the rocks. On Monday April 2, 2007, the witness called the Institute about the incident. He said the ram was running down the hill on the south/east side of the road and appeared to try to stop when the Jeep was coming. The ram lept across the highway and the Jeep clipped him on the corner of the passenger side of the vehicle, which flipped the ram on his back and then off the road onto the north/west side where he died.

Observer
Bighorn Institute
Travel Frequency
weekly
Estimated Time Since Impact
definitely less than 3 hours
Roadway Speed Limit
55 mph
Road Type
state / rural highway
Location Description
Highway 74Below Vista Point

Observation Map