July 2023 – Despite all the dazzling technological advancements in recent years and the ultra fast pace of living these days, there are a few constants that still reach across borders and the passage of time. Raising herds of livestock on vast pastures is one of them.
From biblical times through the Middle Ages to our current era, despite conquests and cultural upheavals and dramatic social shifts, livestock has continued grazing quietly around the world. And surely JS Bach’s musical piece, “Sheep May Safely Graze,” is as vivid a depiction of sheep placidly nibbling on summer grasses as it was when he wrote it in 1713.
During our RV trip through Colorado last summer, we were happily camping in the National Forest, minding our own business, when we caught wind from other campers in the area that a flock of sheep was going to be brought in to graze for the summer. How fun!
We had witnessed the thrilling arrival of a huge flock of sheep once before when we were camping in Utah, and we’d gotten a huge kick out of watching the whole process. It was like nothing we’d ever seen before.
Sheep like to graze at 10,000’ elevation in the summertime, so they are often driven by truck up into the mountain peaks to enjoy a months-long feast of high elevation grasses and flowers. The flock owners lease the land from the US Forest Service and they hire people to live with the sheep on the mountainsides.
Often these temporary employees are experienced shepherds from Peru that are flown here with special work visas for the summer to camp in the high altitudes of the American West and tend the sheep.
Although we’d been wrapping up our stay and planning to leave, when heard the sheep would be arriving, we decided to stay a little longer to watch the action.
Suddenly, a huge livestock truck rattled down the dirt road, and we could hear the ba-aa-aa of the sheep in the truck. They were making quite a racket!
The truck parked right next to our rig, and we could see little sheep heads peeking out of the openings in the sides of the truck!
Lots of sheep were peering out at us. But we did a double-take when we noticed one of the sheep was actually a fluffy white DOG!
The dog was a Great Pyrenees. We’ve met a a few of these wonderful dogs before. They are gentle giants. The owners of the flock said it was okay to pet the sheep dog and neither one of us could resist.
Great Pyrenees sheep dogs are raised with their flock outdoors from the time they’re young puppies. So, they get to know and understand sheep very well! They learn their jobs as Guardians of the Sheep from the older sheep dogs in the flock, and they live their whole lives outdoors with the sheep.
The Great Pyrenees have an important job guarding the sheep from predators, but they aren’t the only dogs involved in the sheep management business. Border Collies help the shepherds move the sheep from place to place.
Sure enough, a Border Collie was right there ready to help out. Buddy wanted to know if he could help too, and the owners and dogs said “Sure!” Wow! He was thrilled!
The owners had set up a long chute from the back of the livestock truck over to the pen that would hold the sheep until they were all out of the truck and ready to be moved to a pasture.
The first sheep cautiously looked down the chute, unsure of what to do.
The Border Collie jumped and yipped and the owners clapped and encouraged the sheep to start running down the ramp. The sheep got the idea, and suddenly a whole line of sheep was running down the chute.
The sheep were all mamas (ewes) with their lambs, and they were very cute as they trotted down the chute and into the grassy pen!
The owners used a small hand counter to count the sheep as they ran out of the truck. It seemed to be a tricky business distinguishing one trotting sheep from another as they passed in a blur of fur, ears and legs.
The sheep had traveled on two levels in the livestock truck. After the sheep on the lower level had been let out, the ramp was attached to the upper level and the sheep on the second floor began to run out.
The owners had a third dog that was their pet. He had the job of Rodeo Clown! He zoomed in and out between all the sheep, in and out of the pen and all around the grass like a madman. He was faster than the Border Collie and probably faster than a speeding bullet! He leapt on and off the chute fencing and did all kinds of acrobatics.
The owners said he was always a little crazy like that. The other dogs paid him no mind, and neither did the sheep!
Buddy was having an absolute ball as an Apprentice Herder. He seemed to know that he was playing a Junior role, so he never went into the pen with the sheep even though he could have like the other dogs did. He just ran alongside them on the outside of the pen, barking to make them run — and the Pet Dog followed along!
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In between Buddy’s practice herding runs, the sheep settled into doing some serious grazing. They mowed the grass down by an inch or two in no time!
And in between grazing, life went on for the ewes and their lambs.
At this point we’d forgotten all about the Great Pyrenees sheep dogs, but then we noticed one inside the sheep pen. He stuck his head out under the fencing. There wasn’t a whole lot of Sheep Guarding to be done at the moment, so he seemed a little bored.
When he saw Buddy he perked right up. Here was a new friend!
Suddenly, the Great Pyrenees decided he wanted to be on the outside of the pen. So, jumped up and over the wooden fencing of the chute!
I was floored by the agility of this very large dog. The fencing wasn’t all that sturdy, but he leapt on and off of it with ease and grace.
Once he was out with Buddy the two hung out together and kept an eye on things for quite some time.
Meanwhile, the Pet Dog wanted to show off a little too. He straddled the chute fencing, almost as a challenge to the Great Pyrenees!
Back at the truck, the Border Collie helped the owners make sure that all the sheep had been moved out and there weren’t any stragglers left inside.
Finally, it was time to open the sheep pen and move them to their first real grazing grounds. The gate swung wide, and the Border Collie swung into action. He chased them and dashed this way and that as the owners told him what to do with a special high pitched whistle.
The sheep headed out the gate and munched their way across the grass, mowing it down as they went.
We followed from a respectful distance and were really surprised when they headed towards the highway. The owner stood in the middle of the highway to stop traffic. And sure enough, before long there was a line of cars and trucks waiting for the sheep to cross the highway!
Eventually the whole flock had crossed, and they began making their way to the pasture on the far side. This was quite a production!
We wandered back towards our rig and noticed there was a bit of commotion going on. We peered a little closer and saw a sheep lying motionless in a bed of dandelions. We heard some of the workers talking, and it seemed she had been pushed to one edge of the flock where there were some brambles and a fallen tree in the way. She’d gotten tangled up in the branches as the flock had rushed along, and she’d stumbled and fallen as the other sheep brushed past.
It wasn’t clear if she was injured or just stunned. The owner carried her over to the flatbed ranch truck and made a space for her in the back. A little while later she traveled in queenly style and seemed to appreciate getting a chauffeured ride back to the ranch. They assured us that she would be fine and just needed some R&R back home. They’d bring her back the flock in a few days.
Phew! That was a lot of excitement for one afternoon! We caught one of the owners catching a few winks on the sheep ramp.
Then the empty livestock truck rattled its way back out to the highway.
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A little more about grazing sheep, both here and in Germany almost 300 years ago:
- “Sheep May Safely Graze” by JS Bach performed on piano…it perfectly depicts sheep grazing, but dogs, not so much!
- The Day the Sheep Moved In! – Our first experience with a flock of sheep taking over our campsite!
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