Not So Sheepish

Before A. got his first sheep a couple of years ago, I had never actually met a sheep live and in color. And why would I, right? I mean, it's not like people walk sheep around on leashes and let them play in the pet park in Tucson. So I began our sheep-raising adventures as a complete and total ignoramus. I wouldn't claim to be an expert now by any means, but I've learned a few things along the way that I thought I should share with those of you who have not been lucky (or unlucky, depending on your viewpoint) enough to have a close encounter of the ovine kind.

1) Sheep can be big. Really, really big. Like small pony big. We have three breeds of sheep: Cotswold, Clun Forest, and Merino. The Merinos are small and dainty and pretty much look like my ignorant conception of a sheep. The Cotswolds, on the other hand, are giants. They are tall and they are heavy. The ewes are over two hundred pounds. This makes them more difficult to wrestle to the ground for shearing, but does invite the interesting possibility of allowing some small children of our acquaintance to ride on their backs. I'm envisioning a sheep rodeo . . .

2) Sheep can be aggressive. Once again, this is mostly the Cotswolds I speak of. They will shove and crowd the person unlucky enough to venture into their pasture with a bucket of corn or mineral. They will push right past a person opening a gate if they want to get out, with no fear whatsoever of the person standing right in their way. They can be very rude, those sheep. Miss Manners would be shocked.

3) Sheep can be loud. And yes, this is (surprise!) mostly in reference to the Cotswolds again. They yell. That's the only way to describe it. It is not a gentle bleat. It is not soft and it is not melodic. It is loud and obnoxious and damn near constant. They can hear us moving around in the house from their pasture outside, so they yell for corn. They can see us through the windows, so they yell for corn. If you step outside or even start to open the door, they yell for corn. It's really irritating.

4) Rams are not necessarily dangerous. I was very, very unhappy when A. brought home our Clun Forest ram. I was envisioning a huge, wild-eyed, horned beast that would run me over at every opportunity. What we got, however, was the world's sissiest ram. He does his duty with the ewes, but he is not at all aggressive. In fact, he's afraid of people. Except for one unfortunate incident last fall when he butted me to get the basket of apples I was picking. Other than that, though, we've had no trouble with him. I still don't really trust him, but he's not at all scary, really. And Clun Forests don't have horns, so that's a bonus.

5) Sheep are really hard to contain. They can jump surprisingly high. They can squeeze through fences and limbo under them. They are impervious to electric shocks because of their thick coat of insulating wool. The big ones will knock fences down and pop gates open just by rubbing up against them. Sheep need good, solid fences. Otherwise they will find a way to get into my vegetable garden and cause much wailing and gnashing of teeth. And calls to the butcher.

So, there you have it. A sheep primer, if you will. Things no one ever tells you about sheep. The unvarnished, non-storybook truth about sheep. And lest you think this is all so not fun and all you want are the cute, sheepish photos, I can promise you that in about two months, there will be pictures of lambs up on this site. Stay tuned.