He slipped right past me. It’s never happened before so I wasn’t expecting it. But suddenly Robin was out the gate grazing on the lush green grass under the apple tree.
I open that gate so many times a day, often with all the animals gathered around it and as far as I remember no one from this flock of sheep has never even tried to get out.
It was fortunate that Jon had just walked out the door to take some pictures and sit outside for a bit.
“Jon”, I yelled to him, “we have a sheep out.”
Robin is the most unpredictable sheep. Big as he is, he still bounces around in the pasture, butting heads like a lamb.
Sheep don’t like to be alone. Once Robin realized he was on the other side of the fence from the rest of the flock he’d want to go back.
But he has it in him to get confused and bolt, possibly in the wrong direction.
We didn’t talk about it, but Jon and I knew just what to do.
Jon stood between Robin and the front of the house with his arms out and I opened the gate to the pasture to get the sheep out of the barnyard. Then I got some grain and Jon went into the barnyard leaving the gate open so Robin could run in. At the same time he was guarding the gate in case the other sheep came back.
Robin showed a little interest in the grain but not enough to follow me. Soon he was sniffing the dahlias and looking for apples.
Until he saw that the sheep were on the other side of the fence.
Not sure where he was, he ran back and forth along the fence trying to get to them. I stayed some feet away, but close enough with my arms out to make sure he didn’t bolt in the wrong direction.
Not that there was much I could do if he did, but hold out my arm and try to divert him.
By holding out my arms I look bigger than I am to the sheep (some shepherds use a crook to do the same) and they usually respond by running in the opposite direction.
Within a minute or two Robin ran through the gate into the barnyard and Jon closed it behind him. Robin seemed as relieved as we were that he was back where he belonged.
It was just luck that Jon was there. So I thought about what I would do if he wasn’t. I’ll be much more careful to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but it’s always possible.
Robin had no reason to go anywhere with all that good grass to graze on, so I didn’t really have to worry about him running off into the road. Not unless something spooked him.
I would have had time to open the pasture gate and get all the sheep and donkeys in the pasture then close the gate behind them. That way I could open all the gates to the barn yard, the big ones the trucks drive through too, and help Robin get where he really wanted to go, which was with the rest of the sheep.
(I do the same thing when there is a bird or bat in the house, open all the doors and they usually eventually fly out.)
Farm animals getting out of the fences isn’t unusual. It’s often how neighbors meet each other. We’ve helped usher pigs back to our neighbors house more than once. And we’ve met our neighbors when the sheep got though the fence into the field next door.
It’s been a while since any of the animals got out. But I’m much more confident about getting them back in than I used to be.
Knowing the habits, needs and desires of the animals is the best way to get them to do what you want.
Sheep will do anything to be with other sheep, it’s just a matter of trusting that and figuring out the quickest and easiest way to help make it happen.
