Friday, April 13, 2007

Did Ewe Know: Sheep Not Immune to Crime Spree

Did Ewe Know?

Scientists are learning how animals have changed their behaviors to make their lives easier. The crows in urban Japan will drop nuts in the cross walks of busy street lights, await for cars to run the nuts over (thus cracking the hard shell), then waiting for the traffic light to turn red (to stop the traffic) so they can safely fly down and scoop up the cracked nuts.

Apparently, this is also true with sheep.  They have discovered a way to "sheepishly" hurdle themselves through fences in order to raid local village gardens.  As reported by the bbc, the sheep have taught themselves how to roll over, and through, the metal cattle guards, and once the sheep have it in their mind to go baaaaaad, there is little that can be done to stop them.  The sheep reportedly don't scare easy, and often times will win in the game of "chicken" when crossing roads.  The bbc states, "Several drivers have had to swerve to avoid hitting the animals and damaged their cars or been given a terrible shock."

The National Sheep Association states, "Sheep are quite intelligent creatures and have more brainpower than people are willing to give them credit for."  This gives new meaning for when good wool goes bad.

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