Bighorn sheep eat the grass and other vegetation that flourishes in the high mountain basins and valleys of the Rocky Mountains. Usually these places lie between the snow line and a point a little below the timber line. This is also the area where the elderly rams fight their thunderous battles for leadership of the flocks during the mating season In preparation for these brutal encounters, they select a piece of level ground where they can face each other at a distance of ten to fifteen feet. Suddenly and at the same instant, both rams charge forward with lowered heads, their huge, curved horns meeting with a crash that would rival a freeway collision. Often the force of the collision throws both battlers back on their hind legs. But they keep on charg ing and crashing until one or the other decides that he has been beaten Perhaps you wonder why neither ram breaks his neck or his horns in these wild battles. The spine is protected by a special, extremely strong rubber-like reinforce ment at the danger spot where it joins the skull. The horns are safe because the blow is always struck with their thickest central part, their thinner curving points being entirely outside the danger zone. Once leadership has been established, peace returns to the battlefield, and the bighorn sheep go about their business.