Agriculture

My sheep are not stupid, you know. In fact, they seem to me to be getting smarter all the time. For example, when it’s time for their grain treat, I herd the flock out of the main part of the barn’s big room, either out the east door into the pasture or, particularly in bad weather when they are reluctant to venture outside, into the south vestibule. This allows me to distribute the grain into the bowls without being knocked over in their mad competition for what is essentially sheep candy. When I finish distributing the grain, I generally then first open the east door and then the gate between the vestibule and the rest of the barn, at which time something like the Oklahoma land rush begins. I’ve noticed in the past couple of months that even if they’re all initially bunched up in the south vestibule, some of the sheep will wander outside and around to the east door, in the correct expectation that they’ll get in ahead of the pack. It started with old number 45, who has always been rather independent,