Better way...
Posted on 04/28/2022 7:12:03 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Gavin Loxton has more than 5,000 sheep at the high-country farm he runs in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, so he said it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t notice when one of his lambs was missing about four years ago.
But he definitely noticed when the sheep was found.
After several years on the run, the wayward male Merino was discovered on April 14 hiding in an outcropping of rocks on Mount Edward — which has an elevation 6,765 feet — with almost double his weight in wool.
Shrekapo, as he was nicknamed by residents of the Lake Tekapo township, had so much wool that his fleece had grown over his eyes and left him “wool blind,” said Loxton. Loxton is owner of the Sawdon Station farm and vacation cottages on New Zealand’s South Island.
“If he had fallen over, he’d have rolled straight down,” Loxton said.
After a date with an expert shearer and hand blade, though, Shrekapo — named after a sheep called Shrek that famously escaped shearing for six years — is now much lighter on his feet.
On April 18, one of New Zealand’s champion shearers, Tony Dobbs, cut 41 pounds of wool off the bulky sheep before a crowd of hundreds of Shrekapo fans.
About 300 people turned out to watch the shearing, said Loxton, 50, adding that in his estimation, the discovery of Shrekapo is one of the best events to happen in Lake Tekapo in years.
“Like many towns, we’ve had a shortage of good news stories for a while,” he said. “Shrekapo’s independent streak has given us all something to celebrate.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
If wool blindness is possible I guess other body functions can get blocked too. I’ll bet this sheep was pretty fragrant.
Worst for me ever was the day I bailed hay on a horse farm.
Unknown to me, I am dangerously allergic to hay.
My forearms swelled and turned red, and I had difficulty breathing.
I chewed up 3 Benadryl, chased with a beer, and sat in the tub with the shower on for an hour.
Good times...
LOL
Wonderful story! He must have been soooo relieved.
Watching the dogs round up the sheep is fun. There is a tourist farm just north of Queenstown on the lake that has some sheep and Jill the sheepdog rounds them up for fun. they use their eyes to direct the sheep.
No I-dear (oh wait, we’re talking sheep not deer)
Speculating, though... perhaps sheep are similar to pure breed canines, where over millennia their genetic characteristics were crafted by humans - in the case of sheep, to maximize wool production while diminishing their natural ability to shed and/or slow down its growth.
That lam was heard saying, “Ram a lam a ding dong!” All the other lams quickly lined up.....
great story... im in the middle of kidding out our meat goats and have assisted in birthing way to many times this year, im kinda of in shell shock...story helped a lot thanks
They need to sheer the obnoxious prime minister.
“ I love Merino wool sweaters.”
‘I spend my life in a mo hair sweater’. Ramsey Midwood
This story is pretty much peak NZ right here.
Better way...
It's all in the cards now.
(The ~5 who get this will laugh. Thus the word obscure)
So you bailed on that job after such a swell time?!?
Shedding over 40 pounds. It seems to be so easy
for sheep, yet so difficult for humans. Certainly
took a load off the sheep’s mind.
LOL, it was a favor because the lady who owned it bought us beer and let us ride the horses...
I still drank beer and hung out with the females. :)
Best story of the month! Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
He looks so happy in that last pic😊
Hopefully not lined up for take-off...
That’ll do nicely.
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