It was unusual. First Merricat hung around while I was mucking out the barn. When I bent down to see if she wanted me to scratch her neck, something she’s just recently let me do, she walked away.
Then, while the rest of the sheep were under the crab apple tree, Asher was waiting for me outside the barn. I tired to scratch his back, which he always loves, but he took a few steps away from me. So I squatted down and put my face to his asking him what was going on.
Once again I reached out to scratch him and he pulled away.
The last two days is the most rain we’ve had in a long time. The grass is dry and turning yellow. It’s early to be feeding hay, and there’s still lots of long grasses and wildflowers.
The message I got from both Merricat and Asher’s unusual behavior was that they were hungry.
So I brought out a few leaves of hay. The donkeys were the first to the feeders, but when I called to the sheep who were by then foraging in the dry marsh grasses, they came running.
The sheep and donkeys ate all the hay.
And as they ate, a flock of geese flew over the farm, calling loudly, as if confirming that fall was actually here.
