Partisan Sheep?

I think, if I were to query 100 shepherds of the pure intelligence of their charges, the shepherds would be dumbfounded. Intelligence? Hmmm. As one who has sheep, I would say, pure of heart? Yes. Pure of intention? Certainly. Predictable? Indubitably. Social? Indeed. Intelligent? Um, well, not very. There is a reason you see trained elephants and poodles. Horses star in movies and the arena, rats are amazing in their Pavlovian ability, and then in their reasoning. Heck, even cats use a litterbox (although admittedly this has very little to do with our training, and much more to do with their instinct and fastidiousness). Sheep, well, they were in "Babe". We even have the same breed as those that were featured in the movie, Border Leicester. And, believe me, they were predictable enough to film, but not smart enough to train. So, you can understand my surprise when I realized that I have political sheep! In the spirit of solidarity to the defunct and derided  Bush Administration (Bush II, Little Bush?) they adopted their own version of the "No Child Left Behind" policy. Understanding, perhaps, that each of us are responsible for our own corner of the turf, they have unwaveringly been strong in their enforcement. The policy is jauntily titled "No Fence Left Behind".
     The leader in this grassroots effort is Cesar, the heavily testicled Man of the Barn. He may not be smart, but he certainly uses his head, with effective ramifications. When surrounded by an area with already destroyed fencing, this shepherdess has witnesses our hero back up and ram the concrete water trough (subject of 8/16/10) repeatedly. Fortunately for the long deceased traveling water trough man, his legacy was stronger than the policy of our hero, maybe falling under a loophole of not being actual fence.
     The less direct, and more crafty of fencing destroyers is Dolores, a white ewe who has no problem crossing party lines or electric ones. She has threaded herself through six strings of high tensile wire, farm gates and woven "no climb" (HA!) wire fence. Electricity is no match for her wool and lack of understanding. When given the opportunity, she has shoved her head though a 6 inch square hole of wire fence carrying more than 3000 volts of electricity. Then, realizing that she was now stuck and being a bit shocked, proceeded to tangle her entire body in the electric grid like a soft taco. Then, because this moved the fence a bit, she could graze until rescue. Post rescue, why not try it again? Worked the first time. That fencing modality was soon abandoned altogether at Cowfeathers Farm.

Dolores greets the next gen : "Everest". First there were the Kennedys.....

     It is rather common to wake up to sheep in the yard, working on the subset of the "No Fence Left Behind" Policy. That being the "No Pansy, hydrangea, hosta, lilac, boxwood, buddelia, rose, peony, viburnum, beebalm, veronica, pine, holly, echinichea, joe-pye-weed, forsythia Left Behind Either" policy. In this they are challenged, because I am a great planter of ground, and so we have a match on our hands. But a post dawn sweep up of patio-scattered sheep turds comes before morning tea, and in that they have a majority. Without a doubt they have succeeded in causing Cowfeathers pansy extinction even without assistance from Mother Nature's 100 degree days.

Dolores(a.k.a. "D-lo") and Dancer;  political partners

     So, tonight, we are at recess, having grazed all day in undesignated areas, they are full, and baling wired, roped and twined into their respective stalls, clean water, hay and fans blowing on them, lest they feel fatigued from the heat. In the morning, they will have destroyed a wall, or gate in order to go where their Policy dictates, on the way decimating the wall of barn cleaning tools (ram, ram, ram; no tool unscathed, we have 1' long handles on the pitchforks, shovels with 90 degree turns and manure forks with 5 tines left).  And, tomorrow night, I will have fence to repair. Cutter and spare wire in hand, tester at the optimistic ready, I will grope my way around in the dark yet again, trying to find all the gaps in the fence and triumphs in the Policy. Now, who here isn't smart???? Duh.