The other astonishing characteristic of the desert bighorn is their aptitude for leaping from ledge to ledge
and climbing nearly vertical walls of rock. They have elastic
cushioning pads on the bottoms of their hooves that absorb impact and
provide grip on smooth rock surfaces. A bighorn can leap across gaps up
to 20 feet wide and can run up to 30 miles per hour on the flat.
Like all desert animals, the bighorn needs to be able to maximize the limited options for nutrition in their world.
Like other sheep, they have a complex digestive system, putting food
through nine stages of digestion, regurgitation and chewing, wringing
every last nutrient out of the succulents, grasses, leaves, weeds and
twigs that make up the bulk of their diets. In the winter the bighorn
can range far from water, getting most of what they need from impromptu
puddles and their food, but in the summer they'll need to drink from a
reliable water source every couple of days.
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This complex digestive system is the only vulnerability that the bighorn have to human influence in the Grand Canyon. 