Miss touching my ramYesterday was saddening to me. I spent many months getting our hair sheep to take treats from my hand. The ram has lost his fear & comes to me for "luvins" which is petting his "mane" & scratching him under the chin. I kept in mind always that people on this list have said not to touch the face (even anywhere on the head was a no-no to some) because it might give him the idea to butt. Still, on occasion Noble "asked" for scratching on the face and I would do it very briefly.
We had our first ever lamb this past week. I was out in the pasture looking at it from the distance the mother Katydid allowed me, keeping it close to her & usually between me & the little girl Lilith. Noble came up to me as he always does looking for attention. He got his usual "luvins," then appeared to be asking for face scratches. After I did so, he leaned his head into me, which I mistook as a dog asking for more, and that time he shoved a little, enough to startle me. I frowned and went on with something else I had been doing when he had come up, and the goats got me turned at an angle to him. Then he stepped back a little and butted me very softly, then stepped back again with his head lower & then I felt the hard horns. >From then on I stay facing him in the pasture and try to keep goats between me & him...and no more touching him. It's sad though. ;( Valorie Machin [EMAIL PROTECTED] =============================================== This message is from the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep mailing list (http://www.awrittenword.com/listserv/index.html). To respond to this message, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly To search the archives, go to http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
