We are big fans of Wallace and Gromit, thank you, so we’d like to take this opportunity to say that “A Close Shave” is not going to be an issue here. Shaun (read, “Shorn”) can rest easy on this one, as there’s no Knit-o-Matic in this episode. How can that be, when we’re talking about sheep? The St. Croix, to the rescue.
The St. Croix sheep is a hair sheep, which was a new thing for us. No wool at all. It therefore is the perfect breed for ranchers and farmers wishing to raise lamb for consumption, but do not want to deal with the shearing part every six months or so. On top of that, the breed is parasite resistant (including both worms and flystrike), has great teeth and hooves, likes to browse, and they have really, really cute babies. Ask Elara, who got to hold one on her visit (check the pic). If you don’t like them when they’re little for some reason, then check out the adults. The females are year-round fertile and attentive moms. The males not only have an extremely majestic roman nose in their profile shot, but they have a mane like a lion. We are not making this stuff up.
We met Bill and Lori Marion at the Mother Earth News Fair in Albany, Oregon on a baking-hot August day, and talked about the joys of St. Croix’s. We had such a good time with these well-spoken people that they invited us (okay, so we begged) to come up on our next trip through Southern Oregon to visit them at Shasta Ranch, their beautiful spread on the California/Oregon border. Amazing bird watching, interesting wildlife, gracious people, a ride on the four-wheeler, a respectful conversation with a guardian donkey, and it all was topped off by holding a baby lamb. For us, it doesn’t get any better than this, and Elara almost went home with a new pet. Maybe she’ll have more luck convincing Rick the next time they hit the Oregon border.
Links:
http://www.shastaranch.net/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUzSanllyXU
https://weatherspark.com/y/398/Average-Weather-in-Albany-Oregon-United-States-Year-Round
https://www.motherearthnewsfair.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAfCzRrse2U
https://stcroixsheep.org/
http://www.stcroixhairsheep.org/about-st-croix/history-of-st-croix-sheep/
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/stcroix
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/st-croix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_and_Gromit