Bighorner

Bighorners are creatures found in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Background
Bighorners are mutated bighorn sheep, descending from the areas' high mountains. While settlers use them for their horns, meat, and hides, it has been observed that the bull can usually be found in close proximity to a banana yucca fruit, making for rather effective herb tracking. Several settlements, such as Goodsprings and Jacobstown, have domesticated them in order to survive.

Biology
Bighorners are herbivorous and are primarily found in wild herds of three to seven in the Mojave Wasteland, or in domesticated drifts of varying size in settlements such as Goodsprings, near Jacobstown, Spring Mt. Ranch State Park or around Cottonwood Cove. Some more wild bighorners can also be found northwest of Snyder Prospector Camp.

They are generally "laid-back" beasts with surprisingly docile dispositions, in spite of being quite capable of being extremely dangerous when provoked. However, according to Easy Pete they cannot be used as pack animals, as "they just lie down until you take it off". This statement is supported by the fact that no bighorner is ever seen carrying a pack in-game.

Gameplay attributes
In combat situations, bighorners are unique in that they are rarely outright hostile unlike most other creatures. Unprovoked bighorners, though marked as hostiles on the compass, will not actively pursue the player like other creatures, and, if left alone, are content to graze and mind their own business. They will not attack unless something comes with 4–5 feet of them or their young. If this barrier is trespassed, they will rear their heads up and bellow, at which point they will charge and ram into their foe.

Bighorners cannot take a huge amount of abuse (they are squarely on par with a radscorpion in terms of health), but their head-butting attacks are devastating, capable of sending enemies flying backwards or knocking them down. Bighorners can also run very fast, this makes them a very intimidating foe for lower level players.

Any critical shot is a killing blow against a bighorner.

Bighorner
A regular bighorner with all the attributes mentioned above. Bighorners are not hostile unless provoked and are commonly found near Jacobstown and Charleston Cave.

Bighorner bull
Bighorner bulls are usually found in herds around the Mojave Wasteland. The bulls are normally not hostile unless the player gets close or attacks.

A killed bighorner bull can drop up to five bighorner meat, which can be turned into bighorner steak at a campfire. It is very easy to gain small amounts of experience if you find bighorners in groups.

Bighorner bulls can cause a lot of damage when attacking in packs, as their charges will continue to knock the Courier over until they escape their range. They are best left alone when at a lower level, and will fight to the death if you approach them.

Bighorner calf
Bighorner calves, like brahmin, roam settlements, guarded or unguarded. They are less common than bull and adult bighorners in the wild, and are often more tame. This creature is most likely the first encountered by the Courier in the wasteland.

Despite their size, killing an unguarded calf is easy. Bare fists or weak melee weapons are often enough to kill them within seconds. Despite the size of their cranium, their heads will often easily explode when shot. Be wary of penned-up calves; unlike the free roaming ones, these are often guarded by ranchers that become hostile if any harm comes to their livestock. They are also an easy source of bighorner meat to help stave off starvation in Hardcore Mode.

Young bighorner
Young bighorners are roughly a third of the size of their fully grown counterparts, with a lot less Hit Points. Attacking one of these will cause their nearby family members to turn hostile and attack the Courier. They are not hostile even if you go near them.

Malnourished bighorner
Malnourished bighorners have been deprived of food and are near death. You can find quite a few at the Matthews Animal Husbandry Farm. They are not hostile even if the Courier moves close to it, most likely due to the fact it has no energy to fend off attackers.

Malnourished bighorner calf
Malnourished bighorner calves are extremely rare, as are their brahmin counter-parts, the malnourished brahmin calf. A malnourished bighorner calf is guaranteed to be found at Matthews Animal Husbandry Farm. They can also can be found near Cottonwood Cove. They don't respawn if killed. They are not hostile even if you go near them.

Lost Mountain bighorner calf
The Lost Mountain bighorner calf is located north of the Dead Horses Camp up in the mountains. Just follow the paths up and around and eventually you'll get to a narrow canyon path and in the end is the lost bighorner calf. It is the object of the quest Bighorners of the Eastern Virgin.

Locations

 * A few bighorners can be found on the path to Jacobstown.
 * There are a large number of bighorners near Snyder Prospector Camp; around 8-12 bighorners can be found here.
 * Several malnourished bighorners and their calves can be found at Matthews Animal Husbandry Farm.
 * Several of them can be found north of Bonnie Springs and south of Red Rock Canyon.

Appearances
Bighorners only appear in Fallout: New Vegas and the add-on, Honest Hearts.

Bugs

 * Old World Blues changed the bighorner knockdown script to provide the effect of the sonic emitter - Gabriel's bark weapon, which subsequently broke the script for the bighorners themselves.
 * Lonesome Road includes a new bighorner script that fixes this problem.
 * Bighorners have a fairly glitchy mesh that often results in them stuttering in place and clipping into each other.

Sounds

 * Attacking bighorner
 * Bighorner chewing

Gallery
Толсторог