Picabo Sheep, et al, shipped to new digs

Friday, March 20, 1998 | 3:13 a.m.

Nevada Division of Wildlife personnel were set to capture several Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep from an area of the East Humboldt five miles west of Wells. The sheep were destined for a new home 30 miles away on the east side of Pilot Range, north of Wendover.

A school bus brought Debbie Miller's fourth-grade class and Teena Walker's sixth-graders to the Interstate-80 exit near the Utah line.

Earlier in the week wildlife officials had presented a radio collar to each of the two Wells Elementary School classrooms. Each was invited to autograph a collar and to name the sheep that would wear the collar for the rest of its life.

The sixth-graders presented their "Picabo Sheep" collar to biologist Joe Williams, while fourth-graders handed over their "Ruby Sheep" collar. Anxious young faces watched the helicopter skim across the foothills. Those who thought to bring binoculars could see the chopper hover above racing bighorns.

The taking of the sheep for transfer was designed to be as trauma-free as possible. Williams said the transport helicopter carries the pilot, the "mugger" in the front passenger seat and the "shooter" sitting behind the pilot.

As sheep are spotted and as the helicopter flies low over them, the shooter, in harness, hangs out of the helicopter with his feet on the helicopter's skids.

The shooter hangs four or five feet above the running sheep dropping the 12-foot square net over it. Lead weights in the corners of the net allow it to fall over and to entangle the running animal.

The helicopter lands. The mugger grabs the sheep, ties the four legs together, blindfolds it with a full-face denim kerchief and removes the net.

Picabo and Ruby are on their way.

As the helicopter hovered near the base site, a frigid blast of air created by the helicopter's rotors swirled icy snow crystals off the snow-drifted landscape into the crowd, making an already chilly day miserable for a few moments.

Wildlife officials asked the crowd to step back a bit and to remain quiet while the transport sack was removed and the hobbled sheep lay on its side.

The animals were ear-tagged, body temperature was taken, blood was drawn and swab samples were taken from the animal's rectum, throat and nose.

Excited sixth-graders watched as "their" radio collar was riveted to Picabo. Fourth-graders saw Ruby's collar fixed permanently around the neck of a pretty, young female.

The kids had the last word after seeing the sheep up close.

Fourth-graders Matt Howell and Travis Abbott both were impressed by the helicopter. Travis said, "They were able to bring the sheep right to us."

Sixth-grader Cody Moschetti said: "I got to hold the sheep down. I grabbed him by the horn and the jaw and held him down so the biologist could take the blood."

Classmate Jose Salazar said: "I liked watching the helicopter come from far away with the netted sheep hanging down." And sixth-grader Obdulio Mercado said: "I liked petting the mountain sheep ... and helping to put our collar on the sheep."

NDOW removed 13 animals from the East Humboldt Range that Wednesday morning. Four were fitted with radio telemetry collars.

Nineteen other bighorns were captured and transported to the Pilot Range from the Contact herd north of Wells. Three of these were collared.