Intern Uses Crackers To Trap Bighorns for Trip to Arizona

The Albuquerque Journal (subscription required) ^ | Wednesday, August 13, 2003 | Jeff Jones

[CedarDave]

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Intern Uses Crackers To Trap Bighorns for Trip to Arizona

By Jeff Jones
Journal Staff Writer

    GOLD HILL— New Mexico Game and Fish Department intern Fernando Clemente Jr. has a new nickname: The Sheep Whisperer.
    The second day of a $90,000, five-day bighorn sheep trapping operation northeast of Taos was stalling Tuesday morning when department big game program coordinator Darrel Weybright got a bright idea.
    Why not send the intern up the side of a mountain to see what he could do with the herd of sheep on the distant skyline?
    Clemente, a 28-year-old New Mexico State University student, walked up Gold Hill armed with a snack pack of eight wheat crackers.
    Using the crumbs and some soft whistles, he enticed the frolicking, high-stepping herd for nearly a mile down the mountain to a waiting drop net.
    It was there that a final taste of salt— from snack bags of Cool Ranch Doritos and Fritos— enticed eight grayish-tan ewes and two button-cute lambs to step underneath.
    Clemente's efforts earned him some high-altitude applause and a new nickname. His fellow workers called him "The Sheep Whisperer," referring to "The Horse Whisperer," a book and movie about a man's uncanny ability to communicate with animals.
    The department hopes to trap and relocate 30 to 40 Rocky Mountain bighorns from the Wheeler Peak area, where Gold Hill is located, to trim the population and keep the habitat in good shape.
    The first 30 bighorns to be trapped are being sent to Arizona, which is sending New Mexico some desert bighorns in exchange. Any remaining sheep from this week's trapping operation will be used to boost lower-elevation bighorn herds in New Mexico.
    The U.S. Forest Service is helping in the effort, which involves dozens of state Game and Fish workers, volunteers and three massive mesh nets baited with salt blocks.
    With the sheep under it, the net was dropped by an electronic signal. A horde of workers charged the net in a fury to subdue the bucking, frantic sheep before they could hurt themselves.
    "Get on 'em!" Weybright bellowed as the group converged.
    Teams of two pinned each animal's legs, hogtied and blindfolded them. The animals' temperatures were checked to make sure they weren't overstressed. They were placed in blue mesh bags and suspended by cables underneath a helicopter, which ferried them to an awaiting trailer at the Taos Ski Valley.
    Both workers and sheep were huffing and puffing during the melee. The wild, musky smell of wild bighorns hung in the high air, and the workers were covered in sheep hair.
    During most of the spectacle, a few sheep grazed on the high-mountain grass a few yards away and watched with only passing interest.
    Game and Fish turkey biologist Larry Kamees, who helped subdue one of the sheep, said, "It's a blast. It brings back football days."
    State Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell, who came along on the trap, said wrestling a bighorn is like taking on all four of his children at once.
    After the airlift to the trailers, the animals were unhooked from the chopper. They were then radio-collared, weighed, tagged and had their blood drawn for testing.
    Sheep traps in the past have resulted in some animal deaths— most recently in 2001, when five Pecos Wilderness sheep fell to their deaths during a chopper accident. Game and Fish says death is always a risk when trapping wild animals, but all 10 sheep nabbed on Tuesday were in good shape.
    Another sheep trap is planned for the Pecos next month. Federal money from sporting-goods taxes and proceeds from sheep-hunting licenses help pay for the traps.
    The animals love salt, said Weybright, who said he expects more sheep will be suckered under the nets in the Wheeler Peak area this week.
    He said he'll even send the intern out for another try. He added, however, "We'll need more chips."

Copyright 2003 Albuquerque Journal

[CedarDave]

Local TV showed the trap being sprung, catching the sheep and Clemente. In my days of hiking in the Pecos Wilderness there were several times when the sheep became a nuisance. On one occasion I had hung up my sweaty shirt to dry during a break. One of other hikers yelled at me to look out because the sheep had started to nibble the shirt. They are real gorp addicts and will also lick your sweaty arms if they get the chance. Salt is hard to come by up there and the ewes and lambs have absolutely no fear of humans. The rams are more cautious, but sometimes will get into the act too.