These Soay sheep are exhibiting a characteristic that is typical of their breed.
What is it?
I’m going to do a longer post on sheep domestication tomorrow, but these Soay sheep have some characteristics that separate them from virtually all other domestic sheep.
Domestic sheep are not well designed to live in the wild.
And most are very different from their wild ancestors. (Whatever they were. I’ll get to that.)
I don’t think that the “collie eye” would have much effect on those guys. Where are they from?
The St. Kilda Archipelago, which is considered the westernmost part of the Outer Hebrides.
The not responding to a collie-eye is one of their characteristics, which I will get to tomorrow.
They are difficult to herd, definitely very unique sheep predator evasion behavior. We have a wether at the sanctuary who acts in a similar manner; he does not flock and will leave the group, then return, and if necessary will send a loose dog running to the hills with his aggressive behavior (he likes my dog, though). He’s not a Soay, but he is very special. :)
There are, of course, lots of reason most sheep breeds are ill-suited to a natural/wild life. I look forward to your post.
I’ve never heard of this breed before, but they are beautiful.
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/soay/index.htm indicates they are not a “flocking” type of sheep
The “back forty”
http://homesteadingthebackforty.blogspot.com/2007/03/soay-sheep.html
has this: Soays can be managed in small pastures, since they gain a sense of safety in small areas rather than large pasturage. Livestock guard animals must be bonded to the sheep slowly, and herding dogs must be adapted to the special instincts of the Soay, herding it from a distance loosely rather than trying to confine and move the sheep in a tightly packed herd.
— so they would likely work more like goats than most sheep. they can be worked, however — Here’s a photo of Soay being worked by a BC – http://www.soaysheep.com/
On the video posted, it would look like these sheep are simply not afraid of that particular dog.
Regarding origins, sheep appear to be mixed origins, a bit like the horse and cattle. Nonetheless, feral sheep can do quite well on their own (several “island” sheep on San Clemente in CA having to be removed because they were destroying the native plants and driving out the native animals). I think there was a NZ sheep that ran feral for a number of years despite being a wool breed. But no, they don’t generally have the ability to live like bighorn sheep.
Peggy Richter
The St. Kilda shepherds use their BC’s as catch dogs. They are simply to hard to herd. They do not flock. They are like some kind of mouflon. And the sheep are free-roaming.
I disagree that feral sheep do well on their own, especially the vast majority that have wool. Goats, however, generally don’t need us at all.
Not only is wool a very bad thing for a ruminant to have, but sheep are notorious for eating things that will kill them. They also have more predators than you can imagine.
Maybe in New Zealand, where the climate is mild, you could get feral wool sheep doing fine. In the US, I don’t think you’d have the same results.
Wool encrusted with feces leads to infections, even if the sheep survive harsh conditions and the many poisonous plants that they are wont to eat.
something similar with an Icelandic sheep and a Portugese water dog:
If that had been a Spanish water dog, things would’ve been different: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_jcpV4LXS4
I say, don’t bring them out here. Keep them in Europe.
Ramona, Head Sheep, http://www.sixteensheep.com