CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER
5
A flock of sheep may be a few ewes and wethers
busily munching a ditch bank clear of weeds or, more
properly, it is' a group of 1,000 to 2,500 sheep living
a s a unit, requiring a shepherd, a trained dog, adequate forage, fairly clean water, and dry weather to
be a t its best. Undoubtedly, the flock grouping goes
back to prehistory, even before man. Sheep roamed
the e a r t h before man and upon his arrival were
e a s i l y made to serve his needs. When caves were the
latest in contemporary housing, sheep skins added
t h e i r a r t i s t i c touch to the meager scheme of interior
decoration. Even before a cave lady made herself
an elegant cape of sheepskin and became the envy
of a l l lesser cave ladies, even before the warmth
of t h e soft wool brought comfort to the human r a c e
and b e f o r e the healing qualities of lanolin were
known, the sheep pursued his gregarious wandering's
over the north temperate world. Monophobia is no
new instinct among ovines.
T h e r e is proof that sheep raising has been a
basic industry among humans for tens of thousands
of y e a r s . The Book of Genesis tells tliat Cain went
f o r t h t o r a i s e crops while Abel gathered his flock
"with fat" for the approval of Jehovah. God approved
t h e shepherd over his brother, the farmer. In revenge, Cain killed Abel, his brother. There seems
to have been sheep wars ever since. The Bible, set
in t h e environment of the desert with occasioilal
Nevada
Sheep
Trails
a s e s , s t r e s s e s throughout the importance of sheep
in daily living. And the shepherd watching his flock
by day and night had time to philosophize. A world
of nomads watching the skies and the sheep came to
know weather signs along with an understanding of
topography and moisture.
The shepherd, then a s now, was aware of his
responsibility for the flock. Each sheep of the flock
demanded c a r e because it represented the material
f o r warm clothing; its split skins divided to infinitesimal thinness, bore the written records of
m a n on i t s parchment. Its body was food, its fat was
not only food, but the base for many rich ointments
and medications. And above all, the sheep was the
chosen animal of many religions for the sacrifice.
to God o r gods. Only the best a man could offer
would show the local god o r Jehovah that his largesse
was appreciated.
With t h e passing of centuries, the sheep of
I b e r i a way over in western Europe were known as
t h e b e s t in the world. The early Spanish sheep known
a s "churrosfl were leggy fellows with short, open
wool, but bred to the heavier Roman ovine, the
Spanish Merino line was developed. In the golden
days of Leon and Castile this creature reached its
peak. Export of these animals was forbidden. One
r e a s o n given for the superiority of Spanish flocks
was that t h e sheep followed seasonal graze as they
s t i l l d o . They were driven south in the winter and
to t h e northern border Pyrenees in the summer, the
p a t t e r n followed in Nevada today.
T h e r e is another story to account for Iberian
s u p e r i o r i t y in sheep that goes back to the time of
Atlantis, the continent thought to have sunk in gargantuan chunks over a long period of time. To account f o r t h e Iberians, a solitary group, ancestors
of t h e Basques, it is said they fled their homeland in
Atlantis off Africa a s it began to sink. They drove
their flocks before them to the solid mountain world
of the Pyrenees, where the Basque and the Merino
sheep still flourish.
Later, rulers of Spain forbad the export of the
choice sheep, but the law became something to c i r cumvent. Most Spanish expeditions carried sheep to
the new world, although in the early years they were
churro stock. Columbus carried t h e m a s part of his
cargo, and Cortez used them a s a source of f r e s h
meat on his various expeditions. In fact, the conquistadores took sheep to all parts of Latin America
to supply food and wool for clothing. By the end of the
seventeenth century, the original flocks had spread
out amazingly. New Mexico and Texas looked on the
sheep as their first industries.
As Spanish and Mexicans moved north, sheep
went along. Each Calilornia mission was stocked with
sheep, and the natives were taught how to spin and
weave the wool. Wherever a Mexican might drift,
sheep were with him. When the eastern and middle
western emigrants forged West, practically every
wagon carried sheep. The sheep traveled at e a s e in
the wagon while cattle and humans plodded the weary
way afoot. Their ovines were nondescript "American' '
stock of mediocre quality until purebred animals
were brought West from New York, Ohio, France,
and England.
Wherever the churro, the thoughtfully bred
French o r Spanish Merino, o r fancy breeds f r o m the
East might come to occupy the lancl, there c a m e to
be a pattern in their raising. Many of the imported
animals had been raised in fenced pastures, and the
problem of controlling them on the open range was
formidable until each sheep became a part of the
flock mind. Eventually these sheep took readily to
flocking and the life of the trail.
From the start of a few ewes taken in lieu of
pay or picked up a s s t r a y s o r bummers, many a
became a sheep tycoon in Nevada. Flock
illcrease also f 0 l l o w ~a pattern. The ewe is mated
to the r a m once yearly, usually during August o r
s e p t e m b e r in north country and a month or two
later in the south. Except for those weeks they roam
with t h e ewes, r a m s a r e herded apart. Some outfits
breed t h e i r own bucks, while others lease males
f o r t h e breeding season. The first conscious impavement in Nevada flocks came with the introd u c t i o n of Rambouillet r a m s to the ewes. Since that
time many crosses have been tried, but the pred o m i n a n t strain remains Merino. After a gestation
p e r i o d of five months, the lambs arrive. The lambing
s e a s o n l a s t s over a period of weeks and is the peak
of the ovine year. Usually it starts in February, which
is under t h e sign of A r i e s o r Ram which appropriately
marks t h e beginning of the sheep. year.
A s t h e time approaches for the ewes to deliver
their young, they a r e transported a s a rule to a
p e r m a n e n t lambing site, often near the home ranch.
In the olden days, a sunny slope on a sagebrush
h i l l s i d e was sought out by the ewe o r her shepherd.
H e r e s h e dropped h e r lamb o r lambs without attention o r c a r e from human beings. Since the ewe has
o n l y two teats, she usually has one lamb. Two a r e
apt t o overtax the food supply. However, in good
years when forage and water have been easily found
and t h e weather has been good, twin lambs are common. While sheep are reputedly the stupidest of
c r e a t u r e s , the wobbly wet lambkin will seek the
sheltered side of any shrub at hand without help
f r o m mother o r dog o r shepherd. Lambs arriving in
t h i s off hand fashion a r e known a s "brush drops."
N e e d l e s s to say, when lambing is thus unsupervised
the mortality rage i s high.
M o s t outfits bring the ewes to pasture, where
they a r e carefully watched against the arrival of
lambs. The ewes a r e parcelled out in lots holding
some 200 animals. As she approaches h e r delivery,
she will be transferred to a pen with some forty-nine
companions ready for labor. Here she finds m a n g e r s
of hay and grain with water close at hand. Shepherds
walk the lane outside the pen, watching day and night
for the ewes to deliver. A ewe having trouble in delivery will be helped at once. If the weather h a s been
good there will be a good crop of l a m b s . If the
range has been poor and drouth has cut down on feed
and water, the lamb crop will be small and many of
those dropped will die. However well tended and fed
the lamb may be, if the ewe has not been properly
fed, the new arrival suffers. At any lambing there
a r e bummers, those sad small ones whose m o t h e r s
die or simply refuse to own the offspring. T h e r e a r e
also the cripples. These have to be placed in a pen
apart from the skipping, frisking c r e a t u r e s where
they can be watched. Often the newly born cripple
recovers and walks about quite normally a f t e r a few
days. The bummers have been the foundation of many
a fine flock, and today a r e the base of many 4-H
flocks. The bummer demands a lot of attention. It
will probably have to be fed by medicine d r o p p e r and
later by bottle for several weeks. And it may need
heat. The shepherds have no time for such distractions from the business at hand and a r e glad to oIIer
the b ~ ~ m m e to
r s people who will c a r e for them.
After the shepherd and dogs have driven the
ewes o r drop bunch to the pen, the waiting-fornature-to-take-her-course begins. Eventually, the
ewe will squeeze out a bundle of bright orange m e m branes which cover the lamb. If she is n o r m a l and
healthy, she starts licking over the m e m b r a n e at
once. Finally the orange sack has been peeled off and
swallowed by the ewe and the newborn h a s emerged
a s a dirty beige heap with a head and legs. Few sheep
a r e white unless they have been raised in a house
and cleaned often. The lanolin in the wool c a u s e s d i r t
to s t i c k to t h e animal, giving it a muddy color. The
energetic licking s t a r t s circulation in the new a r rival. T h e men a r e busy fellows, for several ewes
may d e l i v e r within minutes of each other. The watch
goes on into the night; the guards carry lanterns to
light the w a y where help is needed. The ewe i s a
t e m p e r a m e n t a l mother at best. In theory, she claims
the lamb, c l e a n s it, nudges it about until it discovers
the food supply. Then the smart lamb kneels facing
the teats. T h i s position gives its mother the opportunity t o s m e l l him a s he approaches the dinner.
If s h e r e c o g n i z e s the family smell, she may accept
him. If h e should be a moocher from another family,
she butts h i m right away. There are usually dead
lambs and dead ewes, s o it is up to the shepherd
to p a i r u p the live babies and mothers. Seldom will
the ewe a c c e p t what is not her own, but she is easily
fooled. H e r dead lamb is stripped of his skin and it
i s laced around the orphan lamb. The masquerade
usually w o r k s and the ewe permits the orphan to
suckle. T h e lamb wears its disguise until it rots off.
Quite often lambs do not know how to suckle, so
the s h e p h e r d must s e e that it learns. If the ewe still
refuses h e r own lamb, the poor little fellow will be
given t o an ewe with surplus milk or will be taken
to the r a n c h house and hand fed by the mistress o r
children. It is said the lambs raised by hand with
the f a m i l y show much greater intelligence and a r e
apt t o b e l e a d e r s of the flock when they take their
place i n the sheep world. If the weather is cold o r
rainy, a n d it often is during lambing season, the new
a r r i v a l s m a y need a hot drink and fire. In the spring
of 1967 a t t h e Borda lambing headquarters near Dayton on the C a r s o n River, the river rose without warning d u r i n g the night. Forty newborn lambs were
drenched b y the r i v e r flood waters. The forty were
speedily r e m o v e d to the shack where meals were
served the employees and a huge fire built in the
small stove. The tiny creatures were
off
despite the fact that sheep camps seldom have an
adequate supply of beach towels O r any s ~ l c h m a t e r i ~ l ~ .
~ o whiskey
t
and hot water was forced down the unwilling patients. Rubbing through the night and repeated doses of whiskey and water saved t h i r t y - ~ i x
of the lambs.
While many ewes r e h s e to feed any lamb, there
a r e the born mothers who permit any and all t o l u n c h
with her. Then there i s the moocher lamb who m a y
be well supplied at home but visits the lleighbors
for a handout even as youngsters in a neighborhood
make the rounds gathering cookies, although there
a r e plenty of cookies at home. These l a m b s a r e
cailed "boomers
Another personality is the pathetic old ewe beyond the years of reproduction but
packed with a maternal instinct. She, known as a
Granny, goes about borrowing lambs.
It takes a delicate touch to bring the right e w e
and lamb together if either is hesitant. P r o x i m i t y
is of great importance. A small tipi is placed o v e r
the two, and the mother is crowded so close to h e r
offspring that she must permit it to eat. If t h i s
treatment fails, ewe, lamb, and a dog a r e placed in a
small triangular pen. The dog crowds the lamb to t h e
ewe, and perhaps she will relax and let down h e r
milk. This failing, the dog will crowd the lamb so
close that she accepts the young thing to get r i d of
he frightening dog which she dislikes heartily. Anything to be rid of the dog. Although sheep a r e a f r a i d
9f dogs, on occasioil the ewe will suclcle an o r p h a n
puppy. This inherent distrust of dogs was s h o w n a s
four black and white dogs and two white f e l l o w s
followed at the author's heels outside the d r o p pen.
The ewes stamped small hooves in rage a n d f e a r
a s the black and white dogs sniffed along t h e f e n c e ,
but paid no attention whatever to the white d o g s . T h e
."
latter, although they were excellent working dogs,
looked m o r e like fellow sheep.
When the new families a r e moved out of the
birthing pen, they may be left in similar pens if the
lamb shows any weakness o r is crippled. Usually
the crippled condition passes. Mother and lamb
wear identical numbers stencilled o r painted on the
back. T h i s helps the frustrated shepherd to line up
the c o r r e c t ewe-lamb grouping. Since family memb e r s are easily separated, a great deal of blethering
and bleating f i l l s the air with a cacophony of noise
when family members a r e separated. But in a brief
time a thousand sheep will sort themselves out, each
lamb finding i t s mother and keeping up with her as
best it c a n .
E v e n the youngest lambs live up to the meaning
of their name-to
gambol. They play king-of-themountain with their contemporaries and leap and
dash about in joyful abandon, although the mothers
make every effort to keep the venturesome fellows
near t h e m . In contrast to the healthy, frolicsome
lambs, t h e r e will be wee ones which' are timid and
lack t h e strength to hit the pace required to keep up
with mother. Once sorted out, the ewe teaches the
lamb t o move along with her. If the lamb lags, she
will even walk backwards urging it along the path.
The small families move from pen to pen thence out
on p a s t u r e until shearing has taken place and the
lambs a r e s t r o n g enough to hit the trail with the
ewes.
Today many of the big sheep outfits have permanent lambing sheds and pens with adequate cultivated
pastures nearby. Even in foul weather the ewes will
deliver with a fair degree of comiort in such surroundings, and t h e r e will be a fair percentage of survival. Some owners lacking sheds and fences spread
great r o l l s of canvas to make snug barricades against
the weather. T h e superbly equipped ranch has drink-
ing and feeding troughs, lambing sheds, and enclosed
pastures. There is an intricate network of fenced
alleys for moving the sheep about. Often t h i s set
up is used for shearing a s well. When the s h e e p
come in for lambing they a r e fed on hay and g a i n .
When the lambs a r e ten days to two weelcs o l d ,
the next big event in their lives comes along. I t is
time to mark (castrate) and clip tails. In many p a r t s
of the world tails a r e not cut, and sheep a r e bred w i t h
broader and longer tails. The appendage is r e p o r t e d
t o make delicious stew. In this country, sheeprnen
feel the tail gathers too much in the way of w e e d s ,
twigs and soil, so all the tails a r e cut. It is said
that experiments in breeding sheep without t a i l s is
being carried out. The male lambs which will not be
used as bucks a r e marked. This is done by p u s h i n g
back the skin of the scrotum; then an attendant b i t e s
off the testicles. The resultant wound p r e s u m a b l y
heals more quickly than a knife wound, and t h e r e is
little danger of infection. The special s m a l l r a m w i t h
distinguished blood lines will not be c a s t r a t e d and
will grow up to add more lambs to the s l a u g h t e r .
There is a lot of bahing and bleating f r o m the pain on
the part of the lambkin and from separation on t h e
part of the ewe, but soon they find each other; the
lamb suckles and the pain is forgotten. F o r t h e m e n
there is usually a great feast with the "mountain
oysters" dipped in batter and fried to golden b r o w n
and the tails made into a rich stew t o b e eaten at
the end of a hard day's work.
Time rolls along, the sheep move out to f r e s h e r
pastures, and by the end of April o r the f o r e p a r t of
May, depending on the weather, the flockmasters w i l l
be trucking o r trailing the ewes and lambs t o s h e a r i n g
camps. Big flocks may be scattered into many c a m p s
There is a state law in Nevada which s a y s no s h e a r ing can take place in a town o r within a half m i l e of
the city limits.
.
The shearing is done by a group of men moving
out of t h e southwest in early spring and traveling
north as the season progresses. A few sheep owners
shear twice a year, but most of them shear with the
advent of spring weather when the lambing is over.
The s h e a r i n g p€!rsonnel may be Mexican or Indian.
sometimes Basques who find shearing more profitable than herding travel a s shearers. When the word
that the s h e a r e r s a r e in the neighborhood,
the s h e e p a r e gathered a t a series of camps. When
the work begins, a white cloth tied to a stick set in the
ground tells the world shearing has begun. While
most of the outfits have mechanized equipment, there
are s o m e picturesque old fashioned ones on the road.
They move over the countryside looking much like
a colorful gypsy band. A s e r i e s of rundown campers,
once painted i n vivid colors but now faded to blending
pastels, move into the shearing camp and set up the
operation. When the housework is organized, the men
move t o the sheds near the pens where the sheep
await t h e m .
Visiting the camp shows owners and shearers
hard a t work. Drifting past the dust-covered campers
toward t h e noise of sheep and men, the friendly dogs
after a ceremonial bark o r two trot along with a newcomer. On the author's t r i p to a shearing on a warm
spring day in 1967, she was greeted by family members; m o t h e r s , fathers, boys, and girls, as well a s
the Basque shepherds. The shearers were too occupied t o even glance h e r way. They were a handsome
lot of b i g men with swarthy skins, great black eyes
and m o p s of black hair. Their clothes were crusted
with d i r t a s were their faces, but they wore a look
of p r i d e . The sheds were divided into small compartments, and a s o r t of alley, boxed in with boards,
ran a c r o s s t h e front. The shearers were half suspended a c r o s s wide belts hung from the roof, each
man with electric clippers. Not so many years ago
this was a man-power affair, taking both m e a t
strength and skill. In early days the s h e a r e r s were
the true aristocrats of the sheep world and might receive as much as $20 a day. Since the men a r e p a i d
by the number of animals they clip, their earnings
vary somewhat. There were some ten compartments
presided over by strong, dark men, looking as inscrutable and taciturn a s men of the road can l o o k to
home folk. Along the length, moveable fencing m a d e
an alley. The ewes were driven into the alley w i t h
men and dogs urging them on. The operator r e a c h e d
out, dragged the sheep by its hind leg under a c a n v a s
curtain and began to clip a s with one motion. A s t h e
dirty wool fell away, pink skin with a shallow c o v e r ing of white wool was revealed. Often the Clippers
cut too close and bleeding resulted. It looked l i k e a
painful, careless procedure although infection seldom results. Once in a while an ewe dies f r o m sheer
shock. As the last wisp of wool falls, the man s h o v e s
his victim back into a small pen holding ten a n i m a l s .
Tally boys watch the pens. At the count of t e n , the
sheep a r e released into a long c h ~ ~ t and
e , the s h e a r e r
gets credit for ten m o r e clips.
By this time the sheep a r e completely d i s t r a c t e d ,
and it takes the nipping of a managing dog t o s e n d
them along the alley. As they move, a man w i t h a
stencil or iron dipped in paint slaps a brand o n each
back. The Borda sheep carried bright red deltas w h i c h
would fade within months. At the end of t h e c h u t e
wait hundreds of bleating, frightened l a m b s , a n d
they scurry about excitedly a s each new g r o u p of
mothers arrives to claim her own again. Then e w e s
and lambs move out into green pasture.
It was a hot day, and the men were covered with
sweat and dust. Their wives stood by s e r v i n g icy
lemonade and beer. As the clip fell t o t h e f l o o r ,
Indians tied it in neat bundles. The black wool w a s
set aside because it does not demancl the price of
white wool. The bundles of wool were carried to a
high p l a t f o r m f r o m the side of which hung a sack
seven f e e t high. It was hung in a frame, and an Indian
i n the bottom of the sack to pound the wool
down as it Was poured into the sack. In other times,
there were contests held in packing. A sack holds
f r o m 200 t o 300 pounds. When the sack was tightly
packed t o its r i m , its top was sewn together. This
was a f a m i l y operation, and at this point the twelve
year o l d son came along with the loading machine
and moved the sack where a great row of sacks
awaited the t r u c k which would haul them to a wool
hipping point o r might c a r r y them all the way to
market. Western wool goes to Boston, Ogden, and
Oregon f o r the most part. In early days great freight
wagons drawn by oxen, mules, o r horses hauled the
wool t o t h e n e a r e s t rail point. It was important that
s h e a r i n g t a k e place a s near a r a i l head a s was possible t o s a v e t i m e and money in hauling.
O w n e r and workers a r e happy if the weather
is b r i g h t and c l e a r . If there is r a i n or snow, shearing
stops, f o r wet wool cannot be clipped even with the
new mechanized equipment. A modern shearing outfit is a n impressive sight when it arrives at a camp.
A long, gleaming trailer c a r r i e s all the necessary
equipment. Chutes a r e dropped, and the sheep a r e
forced through t h e trailer. The shearers move with
incredible speed, and the sheep suffer much less.
O v e r t h e y e a r s , fiesta time for sheep people
c a m e at s h e a r i n g time. Botas of wine passed from
moutlz t o mouth, guitars twangect, and pretty girls
f r o m neighboring ranches came to dance the night
away. T h e r e w e r e contests of skill a s well. Those
times are gone. Today t h e tough shearer leaps in
his car a t t h e end of the day and dashes off to the
n e a r e s t town,' seeking wine, women, and song. He
approaches his work the next morning with less than
high enthusiasm, but since he is ,paid by tally, he
works heroically. A novice shearer is the butt of
everyone' s jokes even today.
F o r many years the sheared sheep were driven
through a. concrete vat of dip which killed the germs
of
and other diseases. There is so little
disease among sheep today that the dip
is seldom used.
In contrast to the early years of thecentury when
buyers f a i r l y swarmed at shearing and market time
for lambs, today the owners are lucky to have one
or two buyers drop around. Nevada lamb has always
been a choice product, and even the California papers
rhapsodized over its delicate flavor. Lamb is at its
best f o r only a brief time. There is the moment
when a clever buyer recognizes meat at its perfection, and the wool is not open o r blown. The sheep a r e
sheared, marketable lambs taken out from the flock,
and ewes and remaining lambs are ready to take to
the s u m m e r trail. The sheep cannot move over the
trail with weak lambs. Even with trucking there is a
lot of walking on summer pasture so the animals a r e
held on home pasture until the young are ready for
the long t r a i l . During this period of waiting, buyers
will d r o p by. If none come, the owner may have to
seek his own market. Today the work of the buyer is
made e a s i e r , for clips a r e pressed in the ears of
lambs indicating age. In other times, mouths had to
be p r e s s e d open and teeth counted for age, but today
the clip o r even the color of the brand indicates its
age. Quick maturing lambs will be sold as "springM
lamb while most of the lambs will go to market
after a summer on the lush grass of mountain meadows. The sheep herders and bosses a r e eager to be
off t o t h e mountains, and there is another small group
01 men who have been watching ever since lambing
began. These a r e former sheep men who are lured
back t o the sheep when spring arrives and may even
follow them to summer camp. Perhaps it is a renewal
of youtlz, this joining a flock for the beginning of
another sheep year.
When strays a r e found in a flock, the brand will
indicate where they belong, and they will be returned
to the proper owner. If there is no visible brand,
they stay with the flock. There is little stealing of
sheep except for food. Indians found the sheep an
easy victim and preferred it over all other food
offered by the white man. It was the preemption
of pasture and water that made trouble in the sheep
world. If a shepherd came onto pasture and would
not move, a wily owner might drive some wethers
into the visiting flock. In no time all was conf~~sion,
and the intruder took his animals to less competitive
country.
The flocks are ready for the trail, They have
been counted while being driven through a narrow
chute. If the creatures move too fast, a board is
placed across the chute. Each must j~unpover this
b a r r i e r , thus giving the counter an opportunity to
keep accurate track. When the board is removed,
those which follow continue jumping over the hurdle
which is not there-the flock mind in operation.
A flock may have a s few as 1,000 head, but a
more efficient unit is 2,500. One shepherd and a dog
o r two can manage this number handily. There a r e
two basic ways of handling sheep on the range. One
is to establish a semi-permanent camp, bringing
the sheep back to the home ground each night. This
plan is seldom used today because the graze is injured and the creatures lose weight on the long walks
to feed. The second and better plan is to let the sheep
graze out over a wide front a s they drift over
pasture. Summer pasture is rentecl from the Forest
Service or the Bureau of Land Management. Rates per
head a r e established each season. Five sheep use as
much forage as one head of cattle. To keep animals
moving over fresh graze, is wise conservation. Under
Ewe with young lamb. Note heavy wool.
Courtesg Nevada Highway Department
such feeding, the range growth is not destroyed and
will grow f o r later use. Under such supervision
sheep are not reduced to eating poisonous herbage.
Sheep live on a fairly strict schedule. With the
sun s c a r c e i y up they awake, stretch, and start browsing. With guidance from shepherd and dog they move
out o v e r a wide area. If there is a stream or spring
nearby they drink their fill. If there is no water, they
will get along nicely with clew from plants over a
period of weeks. Even in crossing a desert, they get
along f a i r l y well with morning dew and the liquid in
the desert herbage.
If t h e r e is only stagnant water, they may reject
it. If they drink, they may become ill unto death.
But then they don't fancy swift movingstreams either.
Mafjat lambs sorted for market, Truckee, California,1951.
Courtesy Wm. Murdock
~ l ~ m
e uys t be driven from alkaline pools to prevent
fatal poisoning. Sometimes on reaching fresh water
a succession of waterless days they will refuse
to d r i n k and will stampede to the last water they recall. It m a k e s for busy days for man and dog.
T h e s h e e p may feed peaceably until the heat
,
f day c a u s e s them to seek shade by chaparral, sagebrush, s a l t , bush, greasewood, or each other's
bodies. If t h e r e a r e no t r e e s o r shrubs, they will
c r o w d s o closely to r e s t in one another's shade that
they s m o t h e r . Again the dog and man must s e e that
this d o e s not happen.
A f t e r s e v e r a l hours of napping and resting they
a r i s e i n the middle afternoon and start nibblingagain.
1f there is no grass, they eat bark from trees,
bushes, w e e d s , o r anything chewable. When the sun
goes down they seek a bedding ground for the night.
There are sheepmen who say leaders among the
flock stancl guard through the night while others deny
that l e a d e r s take any such responsibility. On dark
nights the shepherd and dog stand watch against
night p r e d a t o r s .
T h e daily routine is the same on trail o r pasture. T h e sheep work toward the mountain top as the
summer season advances. This terrain is too rough
f o r c a t t l e and humans bent on recreation seem to off er the m o s t trouble. In the winter Nevada sheep move
to t h e d e s e r t vegetation ol the south, or they may b e
fed h a y and barley at home. Today most of the travel
is d o n e in style. No walking a hundred miles to grass.
M a m m o t h trucks carrying 240 to 300 sheep afford
the l u x u r y of swift, easy transportation. Such travel
means l e s s loss of the summer's hard-earned fat,
and the f a l l market finds the sheep in prime cond i t i o n , which means profit l o r the owner.
A shepherd keeps count of his sheep a s they move
along. T h e r e a r e ways of speeding the count: There
may be goats o r wethers with bells which the herder
recognizes scattered throughout the flock. Goats
a r e g-ood leaders but a r e apt to lead sheep over t e r rain too rough for them. A lamb showing qualities of
leadership will be kept with the flock perhaps for
many years.
With leaders wearing bells, black sheep, sheep
with crumpled ear markings, goats with common
sense and of sound intuitive behavior, and a wise
dog, the shepherd should lead a contented, l~umdrum
life, but it isn't so. Enemies lurk in every pasture,
on every trail and in the a i r . In most cases, a lush
pasture is safe ground for the flock, but the feed may
be poisonous. Even in the days of Nevada's perennial
grasses, there were poisonous weeds, shrubs, and
trees. Grass was s o abundant that animals seldom
.ate enough of the poisonous vegetation to do them
harm. While cattle and sheep a r e both ruminants,
they a r e not necessarily poisoned by the same plants.
Sheep may die while cattle fatten. There is a seasonal
poison in some foliage. The early spring bringing
forth tender, green leaves has the appeal of fresh
grass, but many plants c a r r y fatal amounts of poison
in the young leaves. Later in the season, the same
plants will be devoid of such dangerous elements.
Within Nevada, the University of Nevada Extension Service began to issue bulletins on dangerous
plants as early a s 1918. Charles E . Fleming was
responsible for these bulletins. "Range Plants Poisonous to Sheep and Cattle in Nevadaw had a wide
distribution and was printed in Spanish for the
Basque and his Mexican counterpart. The Spanish edition of 10,000 copies was widely used in South
America. These bulletins a r e still standard studies,
One of the delights of the early issues a r e the beautiful water color sketches of Nevada plants done by
Martha Ryan.
Which plant is the most deadly is hard to deterdeath camas f i r s t ,
mine but most authorities list
A quarter to a half pound of the stuff can end the life
of sheep within minutes. This type of camas i s a
small bulb showing five to seven leaves in the spring
and looking much like the onion until its yellow
blossoms burst forth. It is often incorrectly called
a wild onion. The plant prefers the open highlands in
the north country to timbered lands. By the latter
of June it has died down, and the danger is over
for another year. The sheep eating the plant drops
his head and falls into insensibility. Since sheep
graze most eagerly in early morning, that is when
death strikes. The depraved appetite resulting from
lack of salt will drive sheep to these plants.
Then, there is the lupine, bearing its long, graceful sprays of blue, pink, yellow, o r white flowers in
August. The poison from this plant has little effect
on sheep,but the seed pods carry weevil. When sheep
eat these, they a r e in trouble.
Another ruthless enemy is water hemlock or
water parsnip found in boggy places. The wild parsnip has little o r no poison in its foliage in summer
or autumn, Its f i r s t leaves a r e the deadly ones. The
plant is easily eradicated by cutting it off at the
roots. It is of the deadly parsley family and while
the water hemlock is deadly, the parsnip is safe
eating for the sheep.
Western goldenrod growing in any field with
some moisture o r along ditch banks is a sneaky
enemy. Truckee Meadows has had vast quantities
of this plant. Animals die soon after eating it. Cut
along with hay and fed to sheep in the winter shows
it to be a s deadly as it is when growing. Considerable
research was done by the University faculty before
the effects of this deadly plant were definitely known.
Its eradication is almost impossible.
Then there is the ever present rabbitbrush.Rabbit brush likes the room to grow which railroad
rights of way offer. It grows and grows. Crowned
early in the summer with golden clusters of bloom
above the grey-green foliage, it is recognized in the
fall by all hay fever victims, for its presence brings
on the sneeze. Millions of seeds airborne on gauzy
wings fly over the state. Since sheep a r e not known
to suffer from hay fever, the plant might be considered a safe food, but the danger comes in eating
the f i r s t spring leaves. As the foliage breaks forth,
it c a r r i e s with it a powerful poison. It seldom kills
unless eaten exclusively. Ewes turn to it in lambing
time. A much-traveled trail where grass has been
eaten off and the bush has grown i s the likely spot
for sheep to suffer from eating the foliage. Up on the
hills above Wedekind Road near the old mine north of
Sparks, great patches flourish. Many years ago
Andre Frandsen, a prominent sheepman, grazed his
flocks there and lost almost every animal. He was
so disheartened he turned from sheep to the real
estate business. He built the Frandsen Apartments,
luxurious for the time, and he owned the land where
the River Front now stands. In his day it was "the
r e d light district" of Reno.
In many parts of the United States loco weed is
a public enemy. Found in the southern part of Nevada,
it seldom grows in the north. The plant has grey,
furry leaves and branches of blue flowers. A sheep
eating it may recover but will hold its head to one
side. The sheep holding its head to one side to loolc
at something is called "loco," although it is quite
rational.
Halogeten is a relative newcomer from Asia. It
was first noticed at roadsides, but has quickly spread
over the state. Herders attempt to drive sheep from
it when they recognize it. There is an instance of
herders bedding down a flock of 200 in a patch of
halo geten and every animal died.
A handsome plant with large veined leaves, false
hellebore, topped with a crown of creamy flowers in
the summer, looks friendly enough. It is often called
cow cabbage o r poke root. Lambs o r sheep eating it
become deathly ill. The author once used it for a
bed while camping in the mountains, and it served
that purpose well.
Few people think of milkweeds as villains. Both
the narrow and broad leaved varieties a r e deadly to
livestock. The narrow leaf with its greyish stem and
foliage prefers ditch banks o r other moist spots a s
does the broadleaf. The latter is dark green. Clusters
of pinkish flowers emerge, growing to pointed seed
pods filled with a host of reddish brown seeds, each
equipped with its own glider for travel. At this point
some ladies' club members will busily collect the
pods, thereby scattering the remaining seeds. The
pods (not the ladies) will be painted various unnatural colors and stuck in a vase with some gilded
cat tails to make a striking flower arrangement. And
some will' be laid aside for decorating at Christmas
or even for the junior prom. When combined with
silvered Russian thistle, the gym will be transformed
into a veritable paradise of sheer delight. Not all
milkweed will be picked, and millions of tough roots
will spread. The smallest bit of root from either type
plant will s t a r t a flourishing new patch, so cutting it
olf does little good. It is the fresh green sprouts of
spring of either variety which kill, the unsuspecting
sheep.
There a r e shrubs of a deadly nature. Rabbit
brush is deadly a s was shown. Sagebrush is not bad.
Neither saltbush nor greasewood are good feed.
The azalea is deadly in the spring. Next a r e the
trees, most of them overgrown shrubs with leaves
within easy reaching distance of grazing animals.
The guiltiest of these is the choke cherry. It is a
killer diller from way back, and such delicious jelly,
too! Don't worry, the time of poison is long gone when
the bitter, bitter little red berries mature and give
their life for jelly o r wine. In the hills of spring,
tender green leaflets come on every branch. Animals
crave them. Sheep can reach only the lowest branches,
but when they nip the leaves they die. One sheep
owner in White Pine County reported that he lost
sheep every spring while passing through the country
where the choke cherry flourished. He could not
associate death with the shrub because a fellow sheep
man used the choke cherry area for fall grazing, and
he never had trouble o r lost a sheep. Both accounts
were true. The poison disappeared a s the summer
leaves matured. In the fall, deer, sheep, cattle, and
humans suffer no ill effects from eating the shrub and
its fruit. Danger came in the spring when the prussic
acid flowed. Of course, the shepherd who knows this
will avoid the cherry in the spring, driving his flocks
around the bushes, especially if forage is scant.
In time of little rainfall, more animals die from
plant poisons because they cannot find enough proper
feed. In a dry year E.A. Settlemeyer of Douglas
County took lambs into a fertile canyon of Plumas
County, California. Over a period of ten years he
lost 657 lambs, and that is a lot of profit gone.
He made every effort to find a plant which might be
the offender, but without success. He called Dr.
Fleming, who arrived with all the proper equipment
but could not recognise no killer plants. There was
one pretty plant called fitweecl which grew no place
else in the region. Dr. Fleming loaded a pack animal
with the weed and was off to hisuniversity laboratory
and farm. First, the plant was fed to animals on the
farm. In a brief time the sheep which had eaten it
died. If they were fed small bits of the weed with
plenty of other forage, some survived. There was no
doubt the killer was fitweed. Later, laboratory tests
showed high poison content. Its danger had been overlooked because of the remote location. That canyon
no longer is grazed by ovines.
In contrast to the enemy-killers, there are a
number of plants in addition to grasses offering
nourishment to sheep.There is a white sage, growing
some ten inches high and often called winterfat. ~t is
available when northern snows fall. Curly sage is
another popular winter feed. Most sheep spend a
good s h a r e of the winter in feed lots or pasture on
home ground. Since the Taylor Grazing Act requires
that each livestock man have enough home landto feed
his' stock over the winter, and since the summer
pasture is commensurate with the acreage owned by
the sheepman, winter feeding is a common practice.
The nomad sheepman is a thing of the past, for he
must have a home bas; to entitle him to government
pasture. The good old days of malting a living off the
range a r e gone forever.
The second group of enemies to sheep are the
predators. And they a r e eternal. Coyotes, wolves,
lynx, bears, cougar, bobcat, eagle, reptile, and domestic dogs have added to the hazards of the sheep
business since Colonial days. Most of these creatures
do little damage within Nevada, but the coyote claims
Nevada a s his special ground. Sheep are the most
defenseless and timid domesticated animals there are
around. The wonder i s that they have survived over
the years when there were no dogs or men to guard
them from predators.
In the early days of the West, Indians and coyotes
shared top honors as enemies of sheep. Indians found
them small enough to steal, and they furnished meat
for the camp fire. Coyotes will eat anything easy to
kill. Mark Twain in "Roughing It" has this to say of
the coyote:
When he sees you, the coyote lifts his lip and
lets a flash of his teeth out, and then turns a little bit
out of the course he was pursuing, depresses his
head a bit, and strikes a long, soft-footedtrot through
the sagebrush, glancing over his shoulder at you
from time to time, till he is out of easy pistol range,
and then he stops and takes a deliberate survey of
you; he will trot fifty yards and stop again-another
fifty and stop again; and finally the gray of his gliding
body blends with the gray of the sagebrush and he
disappears. A l l this is when you make no demonstration against him; but if you do, he develops a lively
interest in your journey and instantly electrifies his
heels and puts such a deal of real estate between
himself and your weapon that by the time you have
raised the hammer, you s e e that you need a minie
rifle and by the time you have drawn a bead on him,
you see well enough that nothing but an unusually
long-winded streak of lightning could reach him where
he is now.
Of course, Mark Twain had no sheep to lose, or
he might have been more forceful in his language.
Coyotes a r e carnivorous but will take equal joy in
demolishing a melon patch. Over in a canyon of the
Starr Mountains, a small orchard flourished for
many years. Around each tree lay a ring of traps,
the only way to keep the coyotes from getting fruit
from the trees. Strangely enough, a coyote raised
with sheep will work a s a flock dog all the hours of
daylight, but come the darkness and he will kill his
charges with no conscience at all.
Coyotes have spelled disaster to sheep ever
since ovines came to Nevada. They sneak softly and
slyly into a bunch and c a r r y off a lamb or full grown
animal without great effort. Since sheep seldom make
noise when in distress, a clean get away is assured
for the dog is probably with his master. If the canine
be on guard, the coyote better flee without prey.
Even a small dog of the terrier strains will protect
his charges to the death, and coyotes respect sheep
dogs. The coyote, a s with all hardened criminals,
kills through a lifetime. And in that stretch of years
he may slaughter several hundred sheep. Often a
pair hunt together. While one will attack the flock
openly, attracting the attention of the dog and shepherd, the other will run to the far side and make a
killing. If a group is attacking, they will divide and
flank the flock at several points. While a few attract
attention, others go to the f a r side of the bedground
after darkness falls. Shepherd and dog rush to the
point of disturbance where the coyote is snarling to
draw attention his way. The sly killers creep up on
the far side and may get away with several sheep,
neither the shepherd or the dog being the wiser until
daylight shows the carnage.
Before the twentieth century each stock man o r
group of neighbors fought his own predators. Ranchers might band together for trapping or hunting,
and neighborhood rabbit drives were common, but it
was up to the individual rancher to clear his ranch
and range of enemies to his stock. Traps and poison
bait with lines running for miles were used with some
success, but still predators increased. The coyote in
particular flourished. Men sought out the dens where
mother and father coyote made their family headquarters and cared for their pups. Ranchers dynamited the den to kill the entire family. A s time
passed, the Wildlife Services disapproved of such
practices, but it is still done.
In 1915, a single coyote infected with rabies
killed twenty-seven steers in a feed lot. Before the
rabies abated, over half a million dollars worth of
stock was struck by the scourge and destroyed. After
World War I the federal government took over control of predators, but there was such confusion of
authority among several agencies that frustration
ruled. Despite control programs, the coyote rnultiplied, and a s wild food became more difficult to find,
he slaughtered greater numbers of sheep. By 1930
coyotes were decreasing in numbers, but lack of
government control in the early thirties founcl them
on the increase again. As late a s 1934-1935 no
government effort was being made to c o n t r o l the
creatures.
Since that time, even the outbreaks of r a b i e s
have called for government intervention. Despite all
this, the coyotes have increased. In 1939 s o m e 93,000
were killed as against 10,000 in the f i r s t y e a r of
control. The federal guvernment sent out h u n t e r s and
trappers, counties paid a bounty on skins, and stockmen hired their own hunters, but the i n c r e a s e continued. One difficulty has been that several a g e n c i e s
protect all wildlife, while others attempt to p r o t e c t
its citizens and their animals. Coyotes r e m a i n a
great hazard in the livestock industry.
A s late as 1967 during lambing season on B o r d a
property near Dayton, eight lambs w e r e k i l l e d by
coyotes in one night, and that, while dogs and men
were on guard throughout the night. The government
sent hunters in at once, but the enemy had m o v e d on.
In this time of meager profits, the loss of eight
lambs is a disaster. Poison and traps may be used
to snare the wily coyote, but oftener than not harrnless animals are the victims. While the coyote does
destroy rodents and rabbits, his favorite food continues to be mutton.
Another Nevada predator is the bobcat which
lurks in timbered areas. He is a bloodsuclcer and it
takes several lambs or sheep to appease his appetite.
The carcass, he leaves where he found i t . I l e moves
silently and swiftly. Only the light of the m o o n reveals his presence to the guards. Nevada has few
other predators among those listed. Since s h e e p a r e
curious, they may approach a snake and s u f f e r a
poisonous bite for their effort. There a r e f o l k tales
in Churchill County that eagles steal lambs. The only
proof of this are the sheep bones found in e a g l e n e s t s
near Sand Mountain. Today there a r e few eagles to
molest any animal. There Were wolves in the early
days, but they a r e long since gone.
Man's best friend outranks even the coyote in
sheep killing. The d ~ m e s t i cdog may be quiet and
friendly, perhaps timid near his own hearth, but come
the setting of the Sun and he becomes a veritable
lion. His personality is dual. Some dogs used with
sheep a r e clever, patient herders all the day through
but with the coming of night will kill their charges.
~t i s generally conceded that dogs run in packs to
kill stock. The pack indulges in senseless slaughter.
1f humans approach when they a r e near the kill, the
dogs will flee. They seem to know they are doing
something wrong. This isn't always true; for the
author once had a small wire haired foxterrier who
traveled with Dr. Sawyer on his country calls. On
the particular day the doctor was going to "catchM
a baby on a ranch whose owner kept a few sheep
about. Since the visit would doubtless be of several
hours duration, Pixie, the dog, was turned out of the
car to amuse herself. Several ewes grazed about the
hardscrabble yard. Emerging from the house sometime later, the doctor was beyond speech and almost
beyond rage. The yard was littered with great hulks
of wool, lying dead to all intents, while Pixie, ignoring
her master completely, raced madly after a sheep
easily ten times her size. She caught the sheep by the
hind leg and would have thrown it if her master had
not intervened to drag her away from this exciting
new game. The r e s t of the ewes eventually scrambled
to their feet, returning to the weeds and grass once
the dog was locked in the car. A few of them needed
help to regain their feet, but they sulfered no longterm injury.
Dogs a r e often turned loose at dusk to guard
either city o r r u r a l premises. How they organize the
pack or find the stock is a canine secret. They kill
silently, evidently for the sheer joy of killing. To
catch the marauders has been the goal of livestoclc
associations for years. Over the years, the University Farm near the fairgrounds in Reno has lost bundreds of its animals, chiefly sheep, to domestic dogs.
A young veteran near Stillwater sunk his b a n k r o l l of
$1,000 in sheep one fine spring day, and twenty-four
hours later they were all dead, run down by neighbor
dogs. TO identify the killers is difficult. P r e v e n t i o n is
the best remedy. Every dog in city o r country should
have to wear a license tag at all times. Then, i f dogs
a r e caught at the scene, the owner can be h e l d responsible for the carnage in the flock.
The phrase "hang dog expression" c o m e s f r o m
the treatment given killer dogs in the New England
colonies. A young sapling was bent over and a noose
tied to it. Bait was placed in the noose. W h e n the
canine wandered along the path to the sheep p a s t u r e
he was sure to sniff and snap at the bait. T h e noose
tightened around his neck, the sapling sprung u p r i g h t ,
while the dog hung strangling in the a i r . His e x p r e s sion was so sad as he choked to death, that 11e was
said to have the hang-dog look.
Sheep also suffer f r o m the inherent evils of s o i l
o r water. It is a well known fact that early e m i g r a n t s
bringing sheep to the West lost many of t h e m when
they were permitted to drink of alkaline waters.
Usually a sheep seeks clean water, but t h i r s t y
enough, they will drink of bad water. If they d r i n k to
the point of bloat and a knife thrust doesn't quickly
release the gas, the sheep will die. There a r e other
strange causes of death. A series of flocks n u m b e r i n g
some 6,300 head owned by John G. T a y l o r w e r e
brought to graze north of Golconda, Nevada. The
grass and shrubs of the a r e a a r e in direct line with
the fumes from the Getchell Mine, where the o r e s
have a high arsenic content. Arsenic had s i f t e d down
over the country, and every sheep that grazed d i e d of
arsenic poisoning. Mr. Taylor and his men h a d no
f o r such wholesale death and appealed to
Dr. ~ l e m i n gfor help. By the time he reached the
decay had set in and the air was filled with
the stench of death. It was possible to walk over the
site on bodies of dead sheep, so closely packed had
they fallen. Nothing on the bodies indicated the callse
of death.
John G., always a quick thinker and a man of
action, had brought in nearby Indians to pull the wool
from the decaying bodies. Some generous person had
brought oranges to the Indians for them to. eat a s they
pursued their p i s l y task. There they sat pulling
wool from dead sheep with bare hands. Then, weary
of the task, they turned to the oranges, pulling off
segments with their filthy hands and popping the
pieces into their mouths. Evidently there was little
or no poisoning on the wool. Arsenic carried by the
wind had killed the equivalent of three flocks of sheep.
The fumes no longer blow over the desert, but it is
not a popular grazing region. The cause of death
showed in laboratory tests at the University.
Shepherds a r e our heroes, but sometimes they
unwittingly bring tragedy. Bill 07Neillof the OJNeill
Brothers near Wells imported Mexican herders who
were experienced in handling Mexican sheep, but the
men knew nothing of forage in Nevada, Because the
Mexicans failed to recognize poisonous plants, several
thousand sheep went to their death. Sheep a r e their
own worst enemies. They have a knack for doing
the wrong thing in the face of danger. Reputedly
stupid, they may just reason differently from dog o r
man. A tiny newborn one will find shelter and will
refuse food f r o m all but his mother.
A group of sheep is a flock, and the intelligence
back of that is the group mind, not individual reasoning. Sheep have leaders, middlers, and trailers in
every group, whatever its size may be. Each knows
his place, and if the order is disturbed, they will
quickly drift back to the normal order. If t h e dogs
crowd them and they mill into a group i n danger
suffocating, they will return to proper o r d e r i n a
brief time. A sheep is curious about anything that
moves, especially if it is of light color like t h e m selves. Even the pack burro serves a s leader if he be
of light color. If a burro will not stay close to the
flock, he is not kept because there is too much danger
of his leading the sheep astray. If danger e n t e r s the
flock-mind, the lambs will be crowded to the c e n t e r ,
and the outer circle becomes a ringof adult r e a r ends.
If a portion of the flock takes fright and r u n s ,
they all run. A leader inadvertently stumbling over a
cliff to be dashed to death on the rocks below may
lead the flock to death with him. If s t o r m s t h r e a t e n ,
they move uphill. Dog and man try to turn them about
by driving from the front. A s they r u s h o v e r the
mountain, they may seek refuge in caves, s t a y i n g
t h e r e until they are rescued, or until death if t h e y a r e
not discovered.
The flock is sensitive to weather changes and
moves to higher ground when storms threaten. When
rain falls, it refuses to travel or even to eat u n l e s s
in desperation. As the storm, wind, snow, o r r a i n
lessens, it resumes cropping forage. A s e a s o n of
long rains makes short wool. In summer they nibble
happily at snowbanks but a r e terrified when caught
in a snow storm. Even a mild storm may serve to
scatter sheep over a wide area and it may take the
dog and man hours to round up the runaways a n d to
return them to the flock. In the spring even t h e dour
ewes race happily from clump to clump of g r a s s ,
and this may scatter the flock far over t h e landscape.
If the flock senses danger from wild a n i m a l s ,
it will move down hill, huddling to the point of suffocation on lower ground. With all this d r i f t i n g and
movement, the black sheep and bell wethers s e r v e
to k e e p t r a c k of the flock. Goats a r e useful in bringing the flock back to bedpound. Noise of any sort
from the flock means little, and they stand silent
in t h e f a c e of danger. The constant blethering i s a
sotmd of wellbeing from ewes and lambs or may be
the c r y of d i s t r e s s from a lamb gone astray from
its own ewe.
S h e e p t r a i t s have not changed over the centuries,
and their c a r e is much as it always was. Today, sheep
are provided with salt licks in blocks. Sometimes salt
is put out as often a s twice weekly. Various vaccines
are given f o r diseases. If there is a short ration of
salt, they will seek out the tent or wagon of the sheep
herder. They may even gather around a boulder shaped
like a m a n . The shepherd serves the salt so they
turn t o him in necessity. Formerly they found salt
from n a t u r a l salt licks or gorged on bad feed. Lack
of salt d r i v e s them to unhealthy forage. Over the
years they have 'learned to eat the hay, the grain, and
the food pellets provided by man. They are untidy
e a t e r s , tossing hay all over the earth around them.
A patient herder forks it back into the trough.
T h e shepherd means little to the sheep. The dog
is t h e b o s s and the authority. He must force his
care and guidance upon them, because they do not
seek h i m out.
A t t h e end of summer it is time to hit the home
trail o r homebound trucks. Today, the Bureau of Land
Management indicates the routes to be traveled. As the
sheep leave the reserves, a second count is made to
be sure t h e owner has paid head tax for every animal.
At p r e a r r a n g e d headquarters , marketable lambs and
older e w e s a r e screened for market. The buyers
make bids, and the one offering the highest price
loads t h e sheep on to trucks bound for markets
usually i n California.