Sheep

A disturbing fact about sheep : they do not take care of their young. As in, they will often abandon their young, fail to feed their young, or just trample them. This is quite sad to me, and destroys most child-like, pastoral imagery I've built up in my head regarding sheep and their gentleness.

Most animals take care of their young quite well. One would think that sheep would do the same. It seems that the ones with the black faces are the worst when it comes to trampling their young. And this is why sheep often need shepherds, because lambs are often not well taken care of. This seems rational to me (re: appointing a shepherd to take care of flock, especially the weakest).

This conversation came up over a dinner of Swiss Chalet take-out. So, I haven't found any official proof (yet) about the stupidity and cruelty of sheep. But if anyone has come across it, please, enlighten me. If, however, you'd like some other interesting factoids about sheep, I am more than happy to oblige, as I've already wikipedia'd (?) a bit about sheep. But please don't assume any of this is in the least scientific. Most comes as a result of hearsay.

Sheep are less intelligent than pigs and cows. Sheep can identify a human face for years after they have seen it. Sheep will identify one voice and will listen to it (makes me think of this). They often follow the other sheep that seem to be moving and can be taught to "heft" to one particular area: this means that they are taught to stick to one geographical location and not stray outside the boundaries. Quite convenient when shepherding sheep without fences and such. Sheep are prey animals, and need to be protected.

I think the analogies that can be drawn from this, and our own need for a shepherd, are pretty self-explanatory.