The Australian Merinos have to cope with pretty harsh conditions in summer. The Kiwis get longer strands of wool out of their sheep because of their less stressful conditions. Stress causes the wool to have a weak point and it breaks into shorter strands.
Less stressful conditions, eh? I suppose that lets the Kiwis off the hook, but what does it say about Yorkshiremen?
I like sheep. I like the look of ‘em dotting the green hills with white in the Highlands. If I had land I’d have sheep. And cats. And a dog or two. And a ha-ha.
While cycling through NZ I stopped at a farm to get water; just in time to watch the sheep being sheared. All done to disco music. This was definitely post-disco era. But I’m thinking now, perhaps it was for the benefit of the sheep? Perhaps sheep prefer disco?
July 14th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Don’t underestimate the Wensleydale. Beneath all the frills there’s a lot of Yorkshire grit - needed up in that part of the world in winter.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:26 am
The Australian Merinos have to cope with pretty harsh conditions in summer. The Kiwis get longer strands of wool out of their sheep because of their less stressful conditions. Stress causes the wool to have a weak point and it breaks into shorter strands.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Summer isn’t much of an issue on the tops of Wensleydale. The rain just comes down at a different angle.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Some people know more about sheep than they should be proud of.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
“It were always rainin’ in Yorkshire”.
There are ten times as many sheep in New Zealand as people (the ratio is ‘only’ six in Australia). It’s hard not to know too much about sheep.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Less stressful conditions, eh? I suppose that lets the Kiwis off the hook, but what does it say about Yorkshiremen?
I like sheep. I like the look of ‘em dotting the green hills with white in the Highlands. If I had land I’d have sheep. And cats. And a dog or two. And a ha-ha.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Ah but would you teach them to dance? Here’s a Kiwi who I saw at the Royal Highland Show:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=8749724429173506970
July 15th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Well it’s a Kiwi, so that’s OK.
While cycling through NZ I stopped at a farm to get water; just in time to watch the sheep being sheared. All done to disco music. This was definitely post-disco era. But I’m thinking now, perhaps it was for the benefit of the sheep? Perhaps sheep prefer disco?
July 15th, 2008 at 4:56 am
There are ten times as many sheep in New Zealand as people (the ratio is ‘only’ six in Australia). It’s hard not to know too much about sheep.
Thank gawd this argument doesn’t always hold. I remain all but totally ignorant of cockroaches.