Day: March 2, 2014

It is a wrenching thing to see a dead lamb lying in the snow, it is a natural thing, a common thing, a reminder that life has its own way of asserting itself. It is also an ancient ballet, as is almost everything that happens between the sheep and the dog. Red saw the dead lamb and came over to stand by it, he is involved in everything that happens with sheep in the pasture.

I’ve also learned that the usually docile sheep are among the most wonderful of animal mothers, they will stand down a wolf and sacrifice themselves to save their lambs. Red and Kim stood over the dead lamb this morning, still trying to get her up hours after she must have died. Normally Kim would never stand this close to Red, nor would he permit her to, but they were each asserting themselves in their own way. Red was showing the sheep that the lamb was now in his care, Kim was still trying to protect her lamb, get her up, distract Red and get him away from her.

It is beautiful, awe-inspiring to see animals follow their instincts, play out their timeless roles, mother and sheep dog, an ancient dance.

I have a rule about animals in my care: I am responsible for them. Life happens, and many things about animals are not controllable, but when an animal on my farm dies, or  I see a dead lamb lying frozen to the ground in our pasture, I begin wracking my brain. Was there something I could have done? Something I missed? Something I miscalculated?

Should I have built lambing pens, gotten them ready? In most cases, the answer is no, there is nothing I could have done, nature has it’s own ideas about the lives of animals. But animals are not just a joy and a pleasure, they are a responsibility 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I take it serious, so does Maria. It’s a simple rule, I am responsible for their care and everything that happens to them.

It could have been such a different morning, but again and again, we are reminded of the joy and sorrow of a real life with real animals. I went t the barn and I heard Maria say from outside, “Oh, Jon, there’s a dead lamb.”  I saw Red rush over to see what she was seeing. Kim gave birth to her lamb sometime early this morning – a month or so ahead of schedule, it was almost certainly premature.

The lamb was frozen to the ground, I didn’t think it was Kim’s at first, but she stayed close to it, kept trying to catch it’s scent, she ignored Red, stood close to her lamb to protect it. “It could have been such a different morning,” Maria said, yes, it could have been, it would have been wonderful to have had Kim’s lamb this morning.

It is a wake-up call to us, the sheep are not due until April but we need to get prepared. I am haunted by the notion that the lamb might have frozen to death, but the birth was right outside of the Pole Barn, the mother would have gotten the lamb right inside where it was dry, and it was not especially cold this morning, I’ve seen many lambs do well in much worse weather. I would guess the lamb was still born and premature and was born dead.

But I can’t really know, it is just a guess. It could have been a different morning, I am sorry to bring sad news to you after such good news yesterday, but I don’t lie and I don’t sugarcoat our lives here, animals do not live a no-kill life, the real life of real animals is very often wrenching. Maria and Kim and Red huddled together for some time, it was especially moving, I’ll post another photo or two in awhile.