One of the things you expect to see in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is WILDLIFE! On our first day on the River, we tracked a beautiful Red Fox for a short distance, as it trotted along the bank. When we stopped for our lunch along a gravelbed we just happened to be sitting under a mother Dall's Sheep and her twins.
They were resting in the midday shade of a rocky outcrop. The lambs were very curious and peered at us over the edge. The mother was casual about our presence.
On three other days we saw other groups of Dall's Sheep. Sometimes it was a single ram with some females and lambs. In one place we found a band of 40+ at a large mineral deposit along the river. They were very close to the river's edge, and as we approached with the current, they waited as long as absolutely possible, before fleeing from us. I think groups of Dall's Sheep should not be called "bands," but rather "flocks," because when dozens of them ran away and shot up the steep cliff to safety, they seem to be more like a flock of large white birds flying.
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