Bam-Bam The Wyoming Bighorn Loved People, Peanut Butter And Ramming Cars

Heā€™s been gone for more than a decade, but Wyomingites still fondly remember Bam-Bam, the peanut butter-loving, flower-devouring, car-ramming Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ram that ruled Sinks Canyon in the late 2000s.

MH
Mark Heinz

June 23, 20245 min read

Bam-Bam was a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ram that lived in the Sinks Canyon area near Lander. After he died of natural causes in 2013, he was immortalized in this full-body taxidermy mount, on display at the Sinks Canyon State Park visitors center.
Bam-Bam was a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ram that lived in the Sinks Canyon area near Lander. After he died of natural causes in 2013, he was immortalized in this full-body taxidermy mount, on display at the Sinks Canyon State Park visitors center. (Bill Sniffin, Cowboy State Daily)

Heā€™s been gone for more than a decade, but many Wyomingites still fondly remember Bam-Bam, the peanut butter-loving, flower-devouring, car-ramming Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ram that ruled Sinks Canyon in the late 2000s.

He was unusually friendly toward people, and he loved getting treats.

ā€œHe was a sucker for peanut butter,ā€ said wildlife researcher Jack States, who lives in the Sinks Canyon area with his wife Diantha, a botanist.

Bam-Bam would frequently visit their house.

ā€œHe would walk right up our front sidewalk and stare through our screen door at us,ā€ States said.

But as friendly as Bam-Bam was with people, the ram had it out for vehicles. He got the name Bam-Bam for his habit of ramming into cars and trucks.

ā€œIf he could see his own reflection in the vehicleā€™s paint, heā€™d respond to that,ā€ Kent Schmidlin, who was the Wyoming Game and Fish Departmentā€™s regional wildlife supervisor at the time, told Cowboy State Daily.

ā€œHe would do what a bighorn ram does and ram into those vehicles, apparently going after his own reflection,ā€ Schmidlin said.

ā€œWeā€™d go up and try to intervene at Sinks Canyon State Park, try to intervene in some of those antics,ā€ he added.

Bam-Bamā€™s ā€œpeak yearsā€ in Sinks Canyon were from about 2007-2009, Schmidlin said.

ā€˜One Day, There Was This Ramā€™

Sinks Canyon used to have a large bighorn herd, but it was all but wiped out by disease, States said.

Bighorn sheep are particularly susceptible to pneumonia, which remains a concern for herds in the Lander area.

In the years after the big die-off, a few bighorns started to trickle back into Sinks Canyon, States said.

ā€œAnd one day there was this ram. His horns were almost a full curl and he was a very dominant ram,ā€ States said. ā€œAnd he became used to people.

ā€œUnfortunately, the people would try to get too close to take photos and pet him. Some would even try to put their kids on his back, which of course is incredibly dangerous.ā€

Bighorns can be tolerant of humans, but Bam-Bam took it to a new level, Schmidlin said.

ā€œHe had a real attraction to people. He would walk right up to people, let them touch him and give him treats,ā€ he said.

ā€œItā€™s the only instance of that particular behavior I saw in a bighorn sheep during my career,ā€ added Schmidlin, who retired in 2010.

Bam-Bam behaved typically toward others of his kind, however, States said.

ā€œHe protected his ewes,ā€ he said. ā€œHe was kind of a dominant force in the area, and carried out his herd duties. But I think people were his recreation.ā€

  • Bam-Bam the bighorn sheep ram (in foreground) liked to butt heads with another ram, until that ram was killed by a mountain lion. Then Bam-Bam took to ramming cars in Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander.
    Bam-Bam the bighorn sheep ram (in foreground) liked to butt heads with another ram, until that ram was killed by a mountain lion. Then Bam-Bam took to ramming cars in Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander. (Courtesy Jack and Diantha States)
  • Bam-Bam, a bighorn sheep ram that lived in Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander, liked to visit the home of Jack and Diantha States and eat their flowers.
    Bam-Bam, a bighorn sheep ram that lived in Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander, liked to visit the home of Jack and Diantha States and eat their flowers. (Courtesy Jack and Diantha States)
  • Bam-Bam, a bighorn sheep ram that lived in Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander, is pictured here eating dirt. Thatā€™s a common practice among bighorns, to get mineral nutrients from the dirt.
    Bam-Bam, a bighorn sheep ram that lived in Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander, is pictured here eating dirt. Thatā€™s a common practice among bighorns, to get mineral nutrients from the dirt. (Courtesy Jack and Diantha States)

Getting Into Trouble

Bam-Bam was mostly welcome, but he had his bad habits.

For a while, Bam-Bam kept company with another large bighorn ram, and the two were ā€œsparring partners,ā€ States said.

The two rams seemed to greatly enjoy their head-butting bouts.

ā€œBut then his sparring partner got killed by a mountain lion and Bam-Bam seemed lonely,ā€ States said.

That didnā€™t last long, because Bam-Bam figured out that his own reflection in the paint of vehicles made for a good sparring partner.

And he also started overstepping his bounds during visits to the Statesā€™ house.

ā€œHis biggest mistake was he ate my wifeā€™s flowers. And she really wanted to consult with the Game and Fish about this,ā€ States said.

After heā€™d devoured one too many flowerbeds and head-butted one too many vehicles, wildlife agents tried moving Bam-Bam out of Sinks Canyon.

Catching Bam-Bam was easy.

ā€œHe just walked right up to us, and I grabbed him by the horns. Three or four of us just picked him up and set him in the horse trailer,ā€ Schmidlin said.

They drove Bam-Bam to a remote parcel of private land and dropped him off, figuring that theyā€™d seen the last of him.

But getting Bam-Bam to stay away on his own was impossible.

ā€œHe came back,ā€ Schmidlin said. ā€œThe attraction of Sinks Canyon was too much for him.ā€

And Bam-Bam went right back to devouring peopleā€™s flowers and ramming their cars.

ā€œIf he wouldnā€™t have started damaging things, he might have been able to stay there (Sinks Canyon) for a good long while,ā€ Schmidlin said.

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Bam-Bam Gets Sent Away

As it was, Bam-Bam was moved again.

In 2009, he was taken all the way to the Game and Fishā€™s Tom Thorne/ Beth Williams Wildlife Research Center. Thatā€™s just off Wyoming Highway 34 in Sybille Canyon between Laramie and Wheatland.

The research center has high, stout fences that effectively contain bison, elk and moose.

But they couldnā€™t contain Bam-Bam. He escaped one day and started wandering right down the middle of Highway 34, perhaps trying to catch his bearings back to Sinks Canyon.

That was the end of Bam-Bamā€™s shenanigans, Schmidlin said.

The research centerā€™s staff easily tempted him back inside with some treats. He quietly lived out the rest of his time there, dying of natural causes in 2013.

He was immortalized with a full-body taxidermy mount, which is on display in the Sinks Canyon State Park visitors center.

That means Wyomingites and tourists can still have some connection to Bam-Bam and his story, without having to take a trip to the auto body shop afterward.

ā€œHe was quite a character,ā€ Schmidlin said.

Authors

MH

Mark Heinz

Outdoors Reporter