Several readers kindly have inquired after the progress of our pregnant Soay sheep Venus and her broken leg. After we got her home on Friday and into the tiny cubicle pictured in my earlier post, we pretty much left her alone, thinking complete rest would be best, and we did not want to give her a chance […]
Just when we thought we could relax and wait for lambing to begin, Steve came back to the house looking agitated and clearly worried. He discovered one of our pregnant ewes, Venus, in dire straits in the Maternity Ward. Here’s his report: “When I first saw Venus out of the corner of my eye, I thought […]
If dipping navels and trimming hoofs are the spinach and carrots of shepherding Soay sheep (as in, “eat your vegetables, dear”), the choice of a naming theme for our Soay is the dessert cart. Naming themes are about as close as most Soay shepherds get to unmitigated frivolity. They are fun to come up with, fun […]
Apparently a lot, but you sure couldn’t prove it by looking out in our fields. As near as I can tell, the only impact weather has on our flock is that when it gets cold, the sheep tuck their feet under and hunker down in the pasture. In the summer, the sheep drink a lot […]
Actually, it’s not an ounce, rather 2 cc’s, but “cc” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well, does it? If by any chance you do not vaccinate your Soay sheep against clostridial diseases, you should start now. This is one of the few areas where I cannot help nagging. The sight of an animal in […]
For generations before the internet replaced paper, boys happily frittered away countless hours on baseball cards, memorizing statistics and honing their negotiation skills. At the same time, if they were lucky, they were introduced by their grandfathers, as Steve was, to the insanely arcane world of scorecards, meticulously recording the details of a game with their stubby […]