More
photographs and quotations concerning the sentience of
sheep
In nine years
of learning the Way of the Sheep, I have discovered that
the flock is a powerful social unit rather than a bunch
of mindless followers. Many people regard the manner in
which sheep run together like fish in a school when
there is unexpected movement in the pasture as
hysterical overreaction, but when you know that sheep
have no defense against predators except escape and
safety in numbers, their response makes sense. Humans
don’t tend to appreciate a “flock mentality,” but the
truth is that we would probably be doing better as a
species if we were as connected to each other as sheep
are.
Disparaging sheep’s behavior as mindless reflects human
ambivalence about being part of a group, as well as not
considering the nature of the species and the importance
of the flock. I have seen many instances of the members
of the flock watching out for each other and
accommodating a member who is hurt or ill. Rather than
denigrating the flock for moving as one, shouldn’t we be
in awe of how attuned sheep are to each other to be able
to do that? Certainly, we have a lot to learn from their
communication and cooperation with each other. Let us
honor the sheep and look to them to help us be better
people
Stephanie
Marohn : About farm Animals The way of the sheep
*1)
This friendly
ram came right up to the fence and allowed us to stroke
him, he was as curious about us we were about him. He
lives way out in an isolated part of the Pennines in
country Durham, off the beaten track so I would imagine
he saw few people.
Click on the
graphics below for a larger
image which will open into a new window.
Keith Kendrick
a behavioural scientist referring
to sheep's memories states:
"It is a very sophisticated memory system. They are showing
similar abilities in many ways to humans "
It has
been demonstrated that sheep can recognise up to fifty
faces even in profile, for as long as two years, a sure
indication of intelligence.Concerning this ability in
sheep Dr kendrick Says
"If they can
do that with faces, the implication is that they have to
have reasonable intelligence, otherwise what is the
point of having a system for remembering faces and not
remembering anything else,"
For further
information concerning the sentience of sheep in
including Dr Kendrick's study of sheep
click
Sentient
Sheep
This very intelligent sheep so obviously
sentient recognised us after a period of six
months and followed us around as she
remembered that we used to bring food to
feed her.
We have since found out that it is not good
for sheep to feed them food such as bread,
cakes and similar items as
it can give them diarrhoea.
The whole flock used to respond the moment
they heard the rustle of the plastic carrier
bag in which we used to bring them bread.
Click the graphic to access a larger image
The way the sheep's brain is organised suggests they must have some kind of
emotional response to what they see in the world,"
Dr Keith Kendrick
This Wiltshire ram is very friendly, he is used
to people and has lost his timidity and readily
approaches
Click the graphic to access a larger image
Henry
Moore, Sculptor and artist whose representations of
sheep are among the most popular of his works, often
sketched sheep as they grazed in the fields
surrounding his Hertfordshire studios. He wrote:
... I
began to realise that underneath all that wool was a
body, which moved in its own way, and that each sheep
had its individual character.
Surely the fact that sheep seek shelter from
extreme weather conditions is indicative of
sentience.
Here in the Durham Dales it is bleak with little
natural shelter. This wall which runs parallel
to the road is a popular spot for sheep to
shield themselves from the bitter cold of even a
spring wind.
They know fear: strangers
(human or beast) cause them to
take flight. They are also our
first line of defense: they warn
us about strangers and any human
or animal traffic that do not
belong here.
They distinguish faces: the
outer walls of our house are
mainly glass windows and doors –
our sheep will scout the house,
peeping through every window and
door until they locate me with
their eyes, and on making eye
contact, will add sound and hoof
scratches to encourage my urgent
attention to their demands
which, I want to add, is not
always food. They are just as
demanding for attention, ear
scratches, body massages, or
mere socializing.
Sheep are
inquisitive: shopping bags, a car boot full of
groceries, what is hidden under my lounge chairs, what
lies beneath the bed duvet … they nudge with their
noses, sniffing and smelling and will remove chair
cushions and bedding to get to the bottom of things.
Extracts from
Landscape in Art September 10 entry, read this
delightful account after which there surely is not doubt
that sheep are sentient beings.*2)
800x600
1024x768
More wallpaper and other photographs featuring
these two adorable lambs may be accessed
here
and photos of other
Swaledale lambs
here
You can see a short video of these cute little
lambs who came running up to my husband and I:
Friendly Lambs. On the same page you will
find other videos such as "Curious and playful
Spring Lambs" which clearly show that sheep
and lambs are sentient; aware, conscious.
Here is a
delightful video of a little black lamb who was
rescued from a cruel and certain death who now lives
happily and safe at Farm Sanctuary, in the USA. This
little creature is surely a sentient being so full
of life.
This Herdwick ewe
had worked out that if she hung out near the
lay-by she would be fed all kinds of goodies.
She was so friendly, totally uninhibited that as
soon as you opened the door she poked her head
inside
Click the graphic to access a larger image
The
photographs below taken by Flickr users clearly
demonstrate the curiosity of sheep.
Curiosity is surely an indication that sheep are
not the mindless automatons that many people
think. Consider that it is in the interest of
the farming industry for us to believe that
sheep are not sentient, not conscious or aware,
do not feel pain, do not suffer. Sheep are
indeed very much aware of themselves, one
another, other species and their environment and
experience a wide range emotions and suffer
pain, fear and anxiety, including separation
anxiety; a sheep's heart rate increases when he
or she is separated from the flock. For an in-depth article on the
Sentience of sheep here on this website please
click:
Sentient Sheep Also
Sentience in Farm Animals
Links to
information concerning the sentience of sheep
NEXT time
you walk past a field or hillside full of sheep do
not suppose that they are busy automatons with eyes
only for the next mouthful of grass. They have
sensed your presence, identified you as a human and
established whether you are moving towards them or
not. If you do not pose a threat, they will take
stock of which individual animals are in the near
vicinity and, providing all seems well, tackle the
essential problem of which clump of grass or clover
presents the best bet for the next tasty mouthful,
or settle down for a spot of rumination. Above all,
the sheep is aware of every change in its
environment and its senses are geared to assess such
changes with optimum speed and accuracy...
Our combined studies of the behaviour of sheep and
the way that their brains process important
information provide unique insights into the way
sheep categorise and learn to recognise important
objects in the world they see around them. It turns
out that the principles of neural processing
embodied in a sheep's brain are remarkably similar
to those found in monkeys and probably in humans as
well...
This is a
fascinating article concerning the complex process
of visual recognition in sheep which also has
implications for the understanding of visual
perception in humans. The information in the article
certainly illustrates that sheep are sentient
creatures not mindless, automatons without
feelings and emotions.
Sheep are
gentle, interesting animals who are emotionally
complex and highly intelligent. ... recent studies
have found that sheep and humans have many things in
common
When PETA
staff members Carrie and Jackie visited the Poplar
Spring Animal Sanctuary in Maryland, they found out
just how captivating sheep and lambs can be. Playful
and puppy-like, the sheep wagged their tails when
they were stroked. They affectionately nuzzled and
head-butted Carrie and Jackie in order to get their
attention.
Humans can recognize hundreds,
if not thousands of individual faces. Sheep, it
appears, may not be far behind.
A team of British scientists has shown that
sheep are able to recognize the individual faces
of at least 50 sheep and remember them for more
than two years.
Scientists at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge
also discovered that sheep react to facial
expressions and, like humans, prefer a smile to a
grimace.
Further studies which reinforce the notion that
sheep are more like us than previously believed
involved tests showing they mourn absent
individuals. Scientists claim such findings are
increasingly challenging the belief that farmyard
animals have no 'sense of self', a notion that could
have profound implications for the way Britain's
creatures are farmed.
I am not an
animal expert of any kind just your average person who
loves animals, all animals, and feels deeply about the
plight of many of our fellow creatures. Neither am I a
writer, or any other expert. Therefore please keep in
mind that the information included in this website has
been researched to the best of my ability and any
misinformation is quite by accident but of course
possible.
