. The Canadian field-naturalist. 446 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 87. Figure 7. Junction herd escape terrain and lambing grounds. The slopes and cliffs on the left are used as feeding areas and escape terrain, while clay banks in the center of the photo are used as lambing grounds and the terrace immediately above is used as the main feeding and rutting area. lambs move upslope daily to feed on Trap Basin. The greatest concentration of rutting activity takes place on Trap Basin. These ewes, how- ever, also move onto Relict Slope and the Chilcotin Terraces for breeding. During 1968 the fi
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 446 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 87. Figure 7. Junction herd escape terrain and lambing grounds. The slopes and cliffs on the left are used as feeding areas and escape terrain, while clay banks in the center of the photo are used as lambing grounds and the terrace immediately above is used as the main feeding and rutting area. lambs move upslope daily to feed on Trap Basin. The greatest concentration of rutting activity takes place on Trap Basin. These ewes, how- ever, also move onto Relict Slope and the Chilcotin Terraces for breeding. During 1968 the first lambs were noted on May 3 when eight lambs were seen. They were quite agile and followed the females from the silt banks down to the sagebrush areas above the Chilcotin River. Newborn lambs were noted from that date until June 13 when a very small lamb was observed as one of a band of three ewes and three lambs. The number of lambs observed increased daily from May 3 until May 8 when 15 lambs were observed with 29 ewes. Days of observa- tions were few after the latter date, but on June 6, 109 ewes and 68 lambs were classified. This last count identified the highest number of lambs in the Junction herd. Considering the increase of number of lambs from May 3 to May 8 to June 6 it was postu- lated that most lambs were born before May 15. The peak lambing period was considered to be May 6 to May 15. The length of the lambing period was 6 weeks occurring from May 1 to June 15. The earliest that lambs have been observed on this range was April 21 (Sug- den 1961) and April 22, 1962. A small band of ewes and lambs occurs along the Fraser River from Relict Slope to the Mouth Gulches and Trap Basin. These appear to be only a splinter group from the other ewes and lambs in this area. Their lambing grounds are the Mouth Gulches and the post-lambing area is the rocky sagebrush — bunchgrass slopes of Portage du Baril. These sheep frequently feed on Rehct Slope, Trap Basin, and the smal
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