Sheep-ish behavior...

At the Blue Earth County Fair last weekend, I saw a 4H teen walking her ewe through the grounds, nothing between them but a thin leather strap. The two obviously shared a trust I've yet to engender in the flock that has been chomping the grass west of the vineyard.

So, just how does one go about becoming friends with sheep? Because the LeSueur Ten, as I've come to call them as if they were a group of roving bandits, still won't allow me within a car's length of their woolly hides. I thought sheep were supposed to follow the shepherd's call; that's what they told me in church, anyway.

I have learned one thing about these ovines -- they are interested in remaining part of a collection. One slipped through the fence tonight and right away looked for a way back into the pasture. When I noticed one was loose I knew one thing for certain. I should NOT walk toward it. To be honest, beyond that I didn't have a plan for how to get the bad girl back with her sisters. Fortunately, the gap in the twisted wire, where I assume she slipped out, presented itself as a way back in.

I watched her rejoin the flock then performed a quick rigging to plug the gap. Then I yelled at them all for the one's transgression.

By this point, I started to miss farm dog. He loves to go for walks on a leash.