Recently, on a cold January day in Gunnison, Colorado, a group of Good Samaritans noticed a pair of antlers peeking out from the ice-covered Taylor River.
The worried animal lovers quickly contacted employees at a nearby resort, who relayed the information to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. As soon as they heard the news, district wildlife managers Codi Prior and Clayton BonDurant hopped in their trucks and raced to the scene.
Rescuers guessed that the animal, a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, had been attempting to cross the river when she mistakenly fell through the ice. Now, her back legs were becoming numb in the frigid water, and her front legs struggled to grip the slippery surface.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Prior and BonDurant looped a long rescue strap underneath the sheep’s front legs and around her torso. They pulled with all their might, eventually muscling her out from the river and back onto the shore.
Safe on land, rescuers put a face covering over the sheep’s eyes to reduce her stress. They could tell the poor sheep needed a warm place to recover.
You can watch the rescue unfold in a video here:
“She was a frozen icicle when she came out,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife public information officer John Livingston told The Dodo.
Rescuers loaded the sheep into a trailer full of soft hay and drove her to a safe space where she could recover. Biologists and wildlife managers stayed by her side, monitoring her condition.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Thankfully, the sheep didn’t have any injuries. Once she warmed up, she was ready to return to the wild.
Experts drove the sheep to the base of the hill where her herd was located, then they opened the door to her trailer and watched as she gratefully bolted back into the wild.
“She looked very healthy and ready to go, which was a relief and a promising sign,” Livingston said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Team members are so glad that this rescue had a positive outcome.
“[Wildlife rescues] don’t always have happy endings, so each time you see an animal get a second chance at living a natural life in the wild is one of the best aspects of our jobs,” Livingston said. “We hope this [sheep] goes on to give birth to many lambs in the future and continues to add to the state’s incredible legacy of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.”
