In the late fall and early winter, love is in the air, in the badlands. This is the time when the rut begins for the bighorn sheep, and if you’ve watched any wildlife documentary on the sheep, you have no doubt seen the big rams battling it out for dominance. They skull crushing, head on collisions are monumental to see, but they sheep are well adapted for it all. By the time this photograph was taken in mid December, the rut was winding down. A friend has images of two rams head butting the week before but I didn’t come across that action. That does not mean that the hormones that drive such actions aren’t still present…as indicated by this big dominant ram who was huffing and puffing, and getting in the space of every ewe he came across. After all, a girl always appreciates a tender kiss on the cheek.