Sheep are, and arguably will remain to be, one of the sweetest and most docile creatures in existence, in my own humble opinion. Sure, there are probably a few bad apples or rogue ones in the mix, but in a general sense, sheep are gentle animals, and I’ve always found them to be rather comforting. Perhaps this sense of comfort stems from the biblical references to sheep and lambs; I’m not entirely sure, but I’m not mad about it.
With my posts as of late discussing a few different sorts of livestock, I deemed it only fair to dedicate some posts to these lovely animals. The following information comes from spca.bc.ca.
“1. Counting sheep? There are hundreds of different breeds! There are over 1,200 breeds of domestic sheep. With all these different breeds, some unique characteristics exist. Some breeds of sheep, like the Hebridean, grow two, four, or even six horns! Racka sheep are unique because males and females have long, spiral-shaped horns. Najdi sheep have long, silky hair rather than curly wool like other sheep breeds.
“2. Sheep have scent glands on their face and hooves. One way sheep communicate with each other and their surroundings is through their excellent sense of smell. Sheep have scent glands in front of their eyes and between the digits of their hooves that produce smelly secretions used to communicate with one another!
“3. Sheep have rectangular pupils. Rectangular pupils allow for a wide field of vision, around 270 to 320 degrees. This means that sheep can see almost everything around them, except for what’s directly behind them, without turning their heads! As prey species, this helps sheep stay aware of their surroundings and watch for predators, even when their head is down grazing.
“4. Sheep are clever animals. Research has shown that sheep can recognize up to 50 other sheep faces and remember them for two years. Sheep can even recognize these faces at different ages and from various angles. Sheep can also recognize human faces, such as their favourite caregivers. Other studies have shown that sheep can remember how to navigate complex mazes,” the web page states.
Check back tomorrow for part two.
Photo by Sam Carter on Unsplash
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