THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, BEHAVIOR, AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP ON THE CABEZA PRIETA GAME RANGE, ARIZONA Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Simmons, Norman Montgomery, 1934- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 06:06:29 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/287436 This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 70-6668 SIMMONS, Norman Montgomery, 1934- THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, BEHAVIOR, AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP ON THE CABEZA PRIETA GAME RANGE, ARIZONA. University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1969 Biology University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, BEHAVIOR, AND ENVIRONMENT OF THE DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP ON THE CABEZA PRIETA GAME RANGE, ARIZONA by Norman Montgomery Simmons A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN WILDLIFE BIOLOGY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1969 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Norman Montgomery Simmons entitled ^le Social Organization, Behavior, and Environment of the Desert Bighorn Sheep on the Cabeza Prieta Game Range, Arizona. be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy tLf k L..SL- iL Dissertation Director After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:* /U. ^^ f itThis approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was conducted for the Branch of Refuges, United States Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Arizona Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit. Dr. L. K. Sowls gave valuable guidance throughout the research and during manuscript preparation. Dr. R. R. Humphrey provided advice during early stages of research and reviewed the manuscript. Dr. C. R. Hungerford made suggestions on the design of my study and the collection of weather data. Dr. C. Lowe read the manuscript and offered useful comments. Dr. W. J. McConnell gave advice on project design. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife personnel gave generously of their time to help me conduct my research in the field. Messrs. C. Lard and 6. Duncan assisted me during waterhole surveys and made Bureau records available. Mr. J. Phillips designed the unit 1 used to spray bighorn sheep with dye and helped me in the field on many occasions. Mr. S.J. Miller helped to construct observation blinds and assisted me in the field. Dr. C. Hansen of the Desert Game Range gave advice, provided records from his files, and reviewed the manuscript. 1 benefited considerably from his extensive experience with research on desert bighorn. Mr. G. Day of the Arizona Game and Fish Department helped me during a summer waterhole survey and made his records of bighorn observations available. Mr. T. J. McMichael of the Arizona Cooperative iii Wildlife Research Unit also helped during a waterhole survey. Mr. A. Gubanich of The University of Arizona recorded observations of sheep activities for me while he studied birds at Agua Dulce Spring. Dr. C. T. Mason of The University of Arizona named some of the plants I collected from my study area and checked most of the plants I identified. Personnel of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were encouraged by Superintendent J. Felton to assist me whenever possible. Rangers H. Coss, R. Strange, and B. Wendt donated their valuable time both in the field and in their offices. All three participated in arduous waterhole surveys on the Cabeza Prieta Game Range. Personnel of the Air Force, Marine Corps, Army Map Service, Geological Survey, and Coast and Geodetic Survey recorded their obser­ vations of sheep on the refuge. Residents of Los Vidrios, Sonora, provided me with records of sheep observations made just south of the refuge. I am deeply indebted to ray wife Hilah and to Mr. G. Monson of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife who gave me encouragement and assistance from the planning stages to the completion of research and manuscript preparation. Mr. Monson helped me start the research with Bureau approval, identified plants for me, accoiqpanied me while I was in the field, provided records from his own files, and reviewed the manuscript. My wife worked with me in the field, edited the manuscript and typed each draft, and gave the advice and encouragement I needed to complete the dissertation. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES x ABSTRACT xi I. INTRODUCTION 1 The Problem 1 Problem Analysis ...... 1 Delimitations 2 Definition of Terms 2 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA 6 Location 6 Geology . .. , 6 Climate ........... 11 Precipitation 11 Temperatures 16 Humidity 21 Vegetation 21 Vertebrate Fauna 22 History of Land Use ........ 23 III. METHODS AND MATERIALS 28 Selection of the Study Areas ..... .... 28 Collection of Weather Data 29 Marking Bighorn ............. 30 Observation and Recording of Bighorn Activity 32 IV. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND BEHAVIOR 35 Group Size 35 Cabeza Prieta Game Range ..... 35 Kofa-Ajo Mountains Type 37 The Rocky Mountains: Colorado, Idaho, and British Columbia 38 Group Composition 38 Intraspecific Relations 45 v vi Table of Contents, Continued Page Hierarchy and Leadership 45 Courting and Breeding ................. 49 Home Range, Seasonal Drift, and Dispersal . 54 Home Range 54 Seasonal Drift 60 Dispersals 68 V. SOME EFFECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT: A DISCUSSION OF LIMITING FACTORS 76 Heat and Water 76 Heat 76 Water 82 Topography 91 Topography and heat 91 Topography and vegetation 94 Topography and sheep movements ..... .. 94 Predators ......... ...... 95 VI. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 98 Organization and Social Behavior 98 Limiting Environmental Factors 100 Some Management Recommendations 101 APPENDIX 1: AVAILABILITY OF POIHOLE WATER AND USE OF WATER BY DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP ON THE CABEZA PRIETA AND KOFA GAME RANGES 106 APPENDIX 2: TEMPERATURE RECORDS FROM THE CABEZA PRIETA GAME RANGE AREA . 110 APPENDIX 3: GENERAL CONDITION OF VEGETATION AND PLANTS EATEN BY BIGHORN ON THE CABEZA PRIETA GAME RANGE . 114 APPENDIX 4: FORMS USED DURING STUDY OF DESERT BIGHORN ON THE CABEZA PRIETA GAME RANGE, 1961-1965 .... 125 APPENDIX 5: SIZES OF GROUPS OF BIGHORN SHEEP IN ARIZONA AND COLORADO 129 APPENDIX 6: ESTIMATED BIRTH DATES OF BIGHORN LAMBS .... 136 LITERATURE CITED 138 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Location of the Cabeza Frieta Game Range 7 2. Topographic map of the Cabeza Prieta Game Range 8 3. The Growler Mountains, a typical mesa-type range showing the steep face and talus slope 10 4. The main ridge of the Agua Dulce Mountains 10 5. The Tule Desert, separating the Cabeza Prieta Mountains on the horizon from the Sierra Pinta in the foreground 12 6. Aerial view of the Eagle Tank area of the Sierra Pinta 13 7. Temperature fluctuations recorded by hygrothermographs located at Agua Dulce Pass and near Heart Tank, 20 through 25 October, 1964 19 8. A couparison of temperature fluctuations at different elevations (Heart Tank station and Heart Tank blind) and on east (Eagle Tank blind) and west (Heart Tank blind) slopes, Sierra Pinta 20 9. Waterholes in and near the Cabeza Prieta Game Range, 1965 ... 25 10. Eagle Tank, Sierra Pinta, an artificial tinaja constructed in 1957 by the U. S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 27 11. Filling Tuseral Tank with the aid of a 1000 gallon water tank mounted on a truck 27 12. Desert bighorn ram about to pass beneath a dye-spraying unit at Eagle Tank 31 13. Sahuaro "rib" blind at Heart Tank ..... 31 14. Mean bighorn group sizes by group classes and seasons, Cabeza Prieta Game Range 41 vii viii List of Illustrations, Continued Figure Page 15. Mean bighorn group sizes by group classes in three different bighorn ranges 42 16. A group of 16 bighorn rams near the big bend in Burro Canyon, Kofa Mountains 43 17. Change in group composition by season in the Cabeza Prieta Game Range area 44 18. Ram approaching another bighorn in the "horn display" posture to establish dominance ............ 46 19. Estimated dates of conception of 37 bighorn lambs observed on the Kofa and Cabeza Prieta Game Ranges and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 1961-1965 53 20. Observations of bighorn and their sign made in the Agua Dulce Mountains during the 1961-1966 study period, showing distribution during warm and cool months 62 21. Locations of groups of sheep seen during helicopter surveys of the Sierra Pinta in February and April, 1964 and 1965, showing wide distribution during cool months 66 22.