Composition : 99.95% platinum
Mintage : 250

Clashing Titans of the Wind-Swept Crag: The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

AsthefrigidwindsoflateautumnhowlalongtheuninhabitablecliffsandhighpassesofCanada'sRocky Mountainrange,atitanicbattleunfoldsbeyondthescopeofhumaneyes.Two RockyMountainBighornrams square off, rising on hind legs, only to launch themselves at one another at speeds of more than 30 kilometres per hour. Skull meets skull, horn hammers horn, and there sulting crash can be heard more than one kilometre away.

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The ram'smassive curved horns are instantly recognizable, and people who see these horns in person are often amazed attheir size. Large horns can weigh as muchas the animal's entire skeleton (up to 14 kilograms), measure 125 centimetres long,and have a circumference at the base of 450 millimetres or more.Thehornshaveanoutersheathofmaterialsimilar toourfingernails.Adeep annulusridgeisproduced annually in the sheath when horn growth stops during the winter months, making it possible to read an animal's age much as one might count ringsin a tree trunk. The bony cores of the horns and large fluid-filled spaces in the cranium buffer the force of clashes so that head-butting males do not seem to feel the effects of collisions that would instantly kill most other mammals.

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InCanada,theRockyMountainBighorn SheepinhabitstheRockyMountains ofcentralandeasternBritish Columbia andwesternAlberta.Whiletheydonot technicallymigrate,herdstravelseasonally fromhighland habitats in the summer to lower, south-facing valleys in the winter, where they can forage beneath the snow for grasses.AlthoughtheRockyMountain Bighorn doesfacepredationbyeagles, cougars,lynx,bears,coyotes, wolves, and humans, disease and habitat loss are its greatest threats.



ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP - 2014 CANADIANS COINS is categorised COINS AND PAPER MONEY / 08- ROYAL CANADIAN MINT / 25- GOLD, PLATINE & PALLADIUM COINS and sold by l'Imaginaire, a store and specialised website.