Ten Interesting Facts About Sheep You Will Want to Know

I will never forget the 19th of August 2001. Because on that dreadful day while at a local “City Zoo” I was in a field full of sheep (that I was feeding with a bag of seeds or whatever they gave me) when one decided it would be funny to “head butt” me over a fence, snagging my trousers on the way over and exposing my bare, rare end to all within range of my own high pitched calls for help! I felt so embarrassed, but the farmer tried to comfort me by saying that it happens to him all the time and that sheep are actual as playful and fun-loving as many a dog! But are sheep really that fun? Are they even interesting? I went on a search for some facts to find out a little more about these apparent woolly dogs (and some fun pictures to accompany them)…

FACT: There are four main products that we get from sheep 1> lamb which is meat from sheep younger than 14 months 2> mutton meat which is from a sheep older than 14 months, 3> wool and 4> is sheep’s milk!

FACT: It is kind of gross, but parts of a sheep can also be found in tennis racket strings, candles, soap and most cosmetics and skincare products!

FACT: Sheep’s milk is perfect for making cheese as it contains much higher levels of calcium, vitamins A, B and E than cow’s milk! So maybe it is time to think about swapping.

FACT: Sheep have 360 degrees of peripheral vision! Due to their extra large, rectangular pupils, they can, in fact, see behind themselves without turning their heads! Better vision in fact than an owl!

FACT: Merino sheep are so highly valued in Spain (because they produce Merino wool) that until the 18th century it was a crime to export sheep, punishable by death!

FACT: Most of us know this fact, but here it is anyway: Dolly a Finnish Dorset sheep, was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell and was named after the singer Dolly Parton!

FACT: A male sheep is called a “ram” or “buck”, a female sheep is called an “ewe” and a castrated male sheep is called a “weather!”

FACT: It is estimated that there are over 1 billion sheep in the world! That is enough to feed every man, woman and child on the planet for a whole week!

FACT: The digestive system of sheep is very much like that of a cow, in which it features 4 separate chambers that help the animal break down what they eat.

FACT: The top two largest lamb exporters in the world (Australia and New Zealand) export an average of 4.1 million tons of lamb and mutton each and every month!

Do you know of any other interesting facts about sheep? If you do why not tell us in the comments below!