13 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Why do sheep stare at us?
I don't have a lot of experience with sheep, but most of it has taught me that they're pretty fucking stupid. Those signs farmers put up saying "Careful Slow Lambs": every grammatical interpretation applies.
They're probably not thinking much at all really. I don't reckon they're evaluating your fellwalker fashion or contemplating the meaning of life.
If they're staring at you rather than grazing, they're watching for any sign that will trigger their 'I'm fucking off' reaction - which, if triggered could well end them up stuck in a fence or stood on a road...
I did wonder while out on my motorbike why, among vast miles of open moorland do they tend to congregate around the single strip of road? Either the black tarmac acts as a solar heat-sink and they like a warm lie down on it, or they prefer the 'spicy grass' at the roadside with the extra tang of exhaust emissions & brake dust. I haven't quite decided which!
Comment by Albert_Herring at 27/01/2025 at 11:48 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Different warming and cooling rates of tarmac certainly have an effect there, especially where there's shade from trees. There's a spot on the road across Dartmoor that's notorious for it.
The other thing I learned from riding around the Highlands was that lambs and their mothers will run towards each other when they feel threatened by things like wolves, sheepdogs or a CBR6, and they're usually on the opposite sides of the road so they meet in the middle.