How to sheep!
When I first moved to Strawberry Moon Ranch in October of 2020, the 4 sheep became my responsibility. The first thing that I did was get to know them. They were pretty feral, do it yourself type sheep, strong and hardy. Mama Sheep was and still is their leader. I could not get very close to them. They all watched Mama to see what she would do, and she was skeptical.
One of my first interactions with Mama involved an apple. I picked an apple off one of the trees in the lower orchard and was eating it when I noticed Mama watching me. It wasn’t unusual for them to be watching, they always watched me, and when I would look at them they would act like they weren’t watching me, hilarious. I thought maybe she might also want an apple but they were too high for her to reach. I picked another apple and rolled it on the ground towards Mama. It stopped at her feet. I looked at her and took a bite of my apple. She looked down at the apple then bent her head down. I thought with delight that she was going to eat the apple, instead she used her nose to roll the apple back to me. It stopped at my feet and she looked at me. We were playing a game. I realized why Mama is in charge as I looked in her eyes. She is a very intelligent being.
Mama quickly caught on that I was her new resource provider. She tracked my movements and learned my patterns just like she knows Norms patterns. She knows where we are in the house! She knows that Norm is most often in the study and when she wants his attention she will rub her horns on the wall outside the study on the west side of the house. In the mornings before chore time I am most likely to be at the kitchen table drinking coffee. The sheep can’t reach the house outside the kitchen but they can see in the south kitchen window from the hillside. If I run even a few minutes late on chores I get the feeling of being watched. I look out the kitchen window and Mama and her crew are all silently staring at me from the hill. I believe I mentioned in her bio that Mama likes order. When breakfast is at 6, she wants it at 6, not a minute past.
For the first year I could not get within 10 feet of the sheep. Norm let the sheep run wild and believes they are smart enough to do anything they need without intervention. I am more anxious about my ability to care for them if they are sick or hurt if they are so feral. Our agreement is that the sheep are my responsibility. There’s a new shepherd in town. So, I found snacks that they really like and slowly trained them to come when I whistle to get snacks which they have to eat from my hand. We have come a long way! ….snacks!