or shoulders, occasionally developing an erection. Similar courtship behaviors occur among male Asiatic Mouflons.
In addition to genital licking (in Thinhorns), sexual activity between rams usually involves mounting and anal intercourse: typically the larger male rears up on his hind legs and mounts the smaller male, placing his front legs on the other’s flanks. The mountee assumes a characteristic posture known as LORDOSIS, in which he arches his back to facilitate the copulation (this posture is also seen in many female mammals during heterosexual mating). Usually the mounting male has an erect penis and achieves full anal penetration, performing pelvic thrusts that probably lead to ejaculation in many cases. Mounting and courtship interactions between males sometimes also take place in groups known as HUDDLES: three to ten rams cluster together in a circle, rubbing, nuzzling, licking, horning, and mounting each other. Usually huddles are non-aggressive interactions in which all males are willing participants; occasionally, though, several rams in a huddle focus all their attentions on the same (usually smaller) male, taking turns mounting him and even chasing him if he tries to get away. Female Mountain Sheep also occasionally participate in sexual activity with one another, including licking each other’s genitals, mounting, and occasional courtship activities.
So pervasive and fundamental is same-sex courtship and sexuality in Bighorns and Thinhorns that females are said to “mimic” males in order to mate with them. They adopt the behavior patterns typical of younger males being courted by older males, thereby sparking sexual interest on the part of rams because, ironically, they now resemble males. In another twist on gender roles and sexuality, there are also occasionally “female-mimicking” males in some populations—but notably, such males do
Nonreproductive and Alternative Heterosexualities
Large portions of the male population in Bighorn and Thinhorn Sheep do not breed (as mentioned above). Although many younger and lower-ranking males try to mount females, they are able to mate less than 20 percent of the time because both females and higher-ranking rams will not usually allow them to complete their copulations. However, nonbreeding rams actually have a much lower mortality rate than breeding males—nearly six times lower—owing to the stresses of reproduction (including fasting during the breeding season, fights and chases, and other major energy expenditures). Ewes often reject the advances of older, higher-ranking rams as well (nearly 65 percent of the time in Bighorns), and this may lead to harassment and even forced copulations or rapes. In fact, rams employ three distinct strategies to try to mate with females, only one of which entails courtship and consensual copulations. TENDING involves a ram following a particular female for short periods of time, during which he courts her and is usually permitted to mate. COURSING consists of a ram chasing and sometimes butting a female, who is usually forced to copulate under threat of further punishment from the ram. BLOCKING involves forcefully cornering and trapping females with threats and more violent actions such as horn butts; ewes may be knocked down or bounced against trees if they try to escape and have been sequestered for up to nine days at a time by blocking rams. Almost half of all ewes in heat, on average, experience the trauma of blocking. Rams also sometimes mount lambs as well as females who are not in heat—in all, about 15 percent of heterosexual mounts are on such nonfertilizable partners. Male Mountain Sheep “masturbate” by crouching, protruding the penis sideways past the front legs, and ejaculating (sometimes after nuzzling the penis or rubbing it against the front leg). As described above, Mountain Sheep society is strongly sex-segregated for the majority of the year. Since rams and ewes only associate for two months or so during the rut, females usually raise their young on their own with no help from males. Occasionally, however, a ewe who has lost her own lamb will help another mother suckle her young. Such “helpers” are more common among higher-ranking females, where up to 30 percent of mothers who have lost their lambs may foster-nurse other youngsters.
Other Species
Same-sex courtship and mounting occur in several other species of wild sheep and goats, involving similar behavior patterns to those found in North American and European wild sheep. Among Bharal or Blue Sheep (
*Berger, J. (1985) “Instances of Female-Like Behavior in a Male Ungulate.”
Demarchi, D. A., and H. B. Mitchell (1973) “The Chilcotin River Bighorn Population.”
Festa-Bianchet, M. (1991) “The Social System of Bighorn Sheep: Grouping Patterns, Kinship, and Female Dominance Rank.”
*Geist, V. (1975)
*———(1971)
*———(1968) “On the Interrelation of External Appearance, Social Behavior, and Social Structure of Mountain Sheep.”
*Habibi, K. (1987a) “Behavior of Aoudad (