800 Words

The Sheep Detectives is a whimsical mystery-comedy where a flock of sheep, well-versed in whodunit tales read by their late shepherd (Hugh Jackman), set out to solve his suspicious death. The movie is based on the 2005 novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann.

At some point in the movie, George’s trailer is searched for clues to his death. I noticed that the book, Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep by Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius, was resting on the bedside bookshelf. I made a mental note to find the book wondering if such a text even existed. The next day, to my delight, I discovered that there were over 2.7 million copies of said book in print. Two days later, thanks to Amazon Prime, I began reading everything you have ever wanted to know about sheep and how to care for them.

Sheep get a bad rap thanks impart to the belief that they “are the dumbest animals on God’s earth”. In truth, sheep fill a niche that needs filling for “they provide economically efficient food and fiber, they eat many kinds of weeds that other livestock species won't touch.”[1] Sheep are relatively inexpensive to raise, and they reproduce quickly yielding a respectable flock in short order

Five to seven ewes and their offspring can typically be raised on the same amount of land as only one cow and a calf. Sheep can graze lawns, ditches, wood lots, and orchards with full-sized trees.

Sheep possess the ability to graze without having teeth in the top part of their jaw. Instead, they have a hard palate or what is known as a dental pad. A sheep’s bottom teeth consist of eight incisors in the front and twenty-four molars in the rear of the mouth. These are called cheek teeth. Up to a certain point, you can reasonably tell the age of a sheep by inspecting their teeth.

For example, lambs are born with four pairs of incisors which are like small baby teeth that fall out to make way for permanent teeth. At the end of its first year the lamb’s two center teeth are replaced by larger incisors. This process continues for another three years (a pair falls out each season) until all the baby teeth have been lost and the permanent teeth appear.

Sheep have unique behaviors. One of their most common traits is that they fear noise, unfamiliar surroundings, or unfamiliar items left in their surroundings, strange dogs, people, or even water. All of this made sense to me when I recalled a memory from my youth.

Every summer, until we were eight or nine, my parents would load my sisters and I into our red Ford wagon and make the seventeen-hour drive from Manhattan to Iowa for a two-week vacation. We would spend time visiting with grandmothers and great-grandmothers, uncles and aunts, many cousins and good friends. Our favorite visit was to our Uncle Bert’s farm, near Meservy, Iowa (population 220!) and spend the day with his chickens, hogs and piglets, numerous milking cows, two Palomino horses, and, of course, a flock of Suffolk sheep.

Near sunset, Uncle Bert would start out to the sheep’s pasture and shout, “Here Shee-pee, Shee-pee, Shee-pee!” Black heads and ears would rise out of the long grass as the sheep recognized the voice of their shepherd. Bert would shake the feed bucket, and the animals ran to his side.

Naturally, three city kids were in awe of such authority. When my sisters and I tried to imitate Uncle Bert’s call, there was a radically different response from the flock. They would take off to the far end of the pasture and huddle together for sheep have a strong flocking instinct. The faster we moved towards them, the faster they bolted to the next corner of fence posts.

Uncle Bert suggested we move more slowly, and instead of making a loud noise, simply shake the bucket of grain. To our delight, many of the sheep took advantage of a “second helping” while others remained unmoved by the offer! We returned to New York with tales of our farming adventures and successes.

A blessing to have discovered Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep which begins with a poem by Dr. Darrell Salsbury, full of wisdom and a fitting end to this reflection.

The Shepherd’s Lament‍ ‍

Now I lay me down to sleep

Exhausted by those doggone sheep;

My only wish is that I might

Cause them not to lamb at night.

I wouldn't mind the occasional ewe

But lately it's more than just a few,

Back into bed, then up again,

At two o’clock and four a.m....

They grunt and groan with noses high,

And in between a mournful sigh,

We stand there watching nature work,

Hoping there won't be a quirk:

A leg turned back, or even worse,

A lamb that's coming in reverse.

But once they've lambed we're glad to see

That their efforts didn't end in tragedy.

There's no emotion so sublime

As a ewe and lamb that's doing fine.

I'm often asked why I raise sheep,

With all the work and loss of sleep;

The gratification gained at three a.m.,

From the birth of another baby lamb –

How can you explain, or even show?

'Cause only a shepherd will ever know!

[1] Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep by Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius

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