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pinkdot.gif (930 bytes).....Here we introduce you to some of our sheep. This area will be changed on a fairly regular basis. The pictures are copyrighted, please do not use them.

Last updated Feb 18, 1997

"Me-sis"

Here is a little known fact about sheep: They absolutely love to be scratched between the front legs. This is the story of "Me-sis", a purebred Navajo-Churro ewe lamb. You know how dogs will become insistent that you continue scratching them behind the ears, well, Me-sis has been known to tap Jean with a hoof as a reminder that a scratching is due, and then lightly nip Jean if she quits the scratching too soon!

Very alert, sharp and spunky, in many ways she looks like a little black and tan deer. Me-sis is one of the first sheep to greet Jean at the gate. Being a real "Ham" she will come up to my camera and try to eat the lens.

Because of her habit of kneeling down to eat the choice morsels under the feeder, she very often sports a wig of hay. Being ever resourceful she has learned that other sheep will have grain and really tasty leaves on top of their heads, so Me-sis checks and cleans them on a regular basis. Relatively fine boned, like the old lines of Navajo-Churros, Me-sis moves with a light-footedness and "heads-up" attitude that is unusual in sheep in general. Her sharp eyes sparkle, and she sees EVERYTHING!

Me-sis got her name in a round-about way. Her mother (in her first lambing season) gave birth to a little ewe lamb, Me-sis. About 20 minutes later, she gave birth to a little ram lamb. The mother, being new to the whole business of lambs, was by now quite enthralled with the wonderful little Me-sis, FORGOT that she had given birth to the little ram lamb.

For those of you who are new to the subject of sheep, it is often necessary to make sure that the ewe and her little ones are enclosed in an area (generally called a jug or jugging pen) so that the ewe and lambs can bond to each other. Lambs do not automatically know who their mother is, and can wander off to claim someone else as mom, and sometimes another ewe will be so maternally minded that they will attempt to kidnap a little one.

A shepherd frowns on a ewe who FORGETS that she has given birth to one of her lambs, and very often the ewe is culled (given a one way ticket...OUT OF HERE). Jean decided to give this particular ewe a one year probation.

So here was Mother of Me-sis mothering Me-sis, and ignoring the little ram lamb. This was the exact end of the lambing season so there was no chance to graft the little ram onto another ewe with a single, so Jean knew she had just been given a precious bundle to raise on a bottle. Jean said with great sarcasm, "Do you mean this one is Just for Me".

The little ram became "Just for me" which quickly became "Me lamb" which quickly became Me-Lamb.

OBVIOUSLY his sister was Me-Sis.

Me-Lamb was sold in the spring to a wonderful young girl who entered him in the 1997 Colored Sheep Show at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, and Me-Lamb was awarded Reserve Grand Champion.

A bottle lamb like Me-Lamb is very friendly, since they are raised by humans, but Me-sis was raised by her mother (who has since birthed and correctly claimed her new lambs). The fact that Me-sis is friendly is just one more amazing facet of her personality.

This picture was taken as the sun went down, giving her a slight pink glow. She was about three months old at the time and as you can see she is already a woolly creature.

This black and tan ewe lamb was just shorn and gave us a fleece of about 10 in length.

 

You can click on these numbers to continue, or use the pink buttons at the top of the page, or the *Jump links* that are below, to go somewhere else.

#1."Me-sis" #2. "Gem" #3. Short History #4. Stupid? #5. Rule #1 #6. Chris #7. Leonard #8 Lamb Wave #9. You know...when, #10. "Wimps" #11. "Fidget" #12. Invisible sheep #13. "Fraidy" #14. Words

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