Everyone knows New Zealand is known for sheep. But did you know that from far away, sheep look like maggots on the hillside? Well, at least that's what I think. When the sheep follow each other in a long line, I call it March of the Maggots! I think sheep are ridiculously cute and I never get enough of them. When I first flew in to Dunedin I could see hundreds of small white fluff balls dotting the green fields below (or maybe that was the snow from the day before). Lambing season had just finished so there were so many wee little lambs running about, I kept looking out the window on our drive into Dunedin exclaiming "Ohhh, how CUTE! Look at the lambs!!"
The main sheep breed here in New Zealand are Romney, an English breed. They are dual purpose wool and meat sheep. Their wool is very course and is used in carpets, blankets, and heavy clothing. In Central Otago I discovered (much to my delight, of course) the big and burly Merino sheep with curling horns. Merino sheep are the oldest and most numerous sheep in the world. It is thought that they orginated in Spain or North Africa. They are very hardy and can survive in the high rugged mountain country of Central Otago. Their wool is so think and wavy that some of the sheep look like giant Shar-Pei dogs! Merino wool is used in clothing and even billiard/pool table cloth!
Sheep are everywhere! Recent estimates put the number of sheep at 43.1 million, that's 12 sheep per every person living in New Zealand!! Driving around Otago provides panoramic vistas of sheep-covered hillsides. Hikes come with a soundtrack of bahhhing and we often encounter sheep on trails because most trails travel through or along farms at some point. Consequently, these trails are closed during lambing season in September and October.
And of course, I'm always Ooing and Ahing over the lambs. I even like the Big Mamma sheep (see photo above) that look like a giant pile of dirty cotton when they lay down. Although, now some of the sheep are naked because they've been sheared. Talk about pathetic, some of them even look embarrassed and I feel sorry for them (as I wear my wool pullover....)!
Funny thing, sheep. The are so skittish. When we walk by them they get nervous and jump away, causing all the sheep in the immediate vacinity to jump away as well. Even if we are 50 feet away behind a fence. Maybe they think we are coming to strip them of their wool coats. We also see many sheep who get "trapped" in the wedge behind an open gate. They endlessly Bahhh to the sheep on the other side, not realizing they just need to walk around the gate in order to reunite with the other sheep Bahhhhing back.
And then of course, there are the sheep's dags (mentioned in yesterday's posting). Dags are the poop-filled wool that hang off the back of the sheep. Longer wool=longer, dirtier dags. My boyfriend and I kept seeing sheep with dirty butts and I proclaimed that if I owned a sheep I would wash its butt wool. A friend of ours explained the term "rattle your dags" and now I find sheep even more hilarious.
Well, now the lambs are growing up and beginning to be hauled off in double trailer trucks to become dinner. These huge trucks speed through Dunedin, leaving the most intense trail of stench in their wake. It makes me want to give up eating meat all together. Almost.
So now you know more than you probably ever wanted to know about sheep. For all your New Zealand sheep needs, check out these websites:
The New Zealand Sheepbreeders Association:
http://www.nzsheep.co.nz/index.html
The Colored Sheep of New Zealand (No joke, that's really what they call them here):
http://www.colouredsheep.org.nz/
I actually find this website quite interesting and like the idea of using naturally colored wool in my knitting projects.
Rare breed information (including other rare livestock):
http://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/
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