Hello everyone, here is the "Strange World" column, today our protagonist is: a mediocre lamb.
You know what I mean by mediocre, right?
This lamb has only one characteristic: a lot of hair, very much!
How much wool is there? It looks like this. 👇
Envious?
Image credit: Courtesy of Edgar's Mission
There is too much wool and I am tired
This lamb is called Baarack, a Merino sheep. It was found in a state forest in Victoria, Australia, and brought to an animal sanctuary.
Domestic sheep are usually sheared once a year to keep their fur neat. But it seems that this sheep has not sheared wool for many years. People tested him and found that the wool on his whole body weighed 78 pounds, about 70 pounds, about the same weight as a 10-year-old child!
Well, good fellow, walking with a child every day is tiring enough.
Thick wool obscured Baarack's eyes and legs
Because there is so much wool, when Baarack stands, only a small part of the hooves and calves can be seen, and when it lies down, there are no legs...
Moreover, the wool on its head is also heavy, covering part of its face. Wool also pulled its lower eyelids down, exposing its eyes to gravel and dust, and one of its eyes was ulcerated by sticking to a grass seed.
According to the Royal Australian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), Baarack once had a host. Because it was castrated, and it also had marks of the label on its ears, only now the label was gone, probably torn off by the wool.
Why don't wild sheep have to shave?
In 2015, an Australian merino sheep named Chris set a record for the most sheep shearing once, shearing more than 90 pounds of wool, about 81 pounds. Well, this is walking with two small children.
RSPCA staff rescued Chris, who estimates chris had not trimmed wool for at least five years.
Chris, who was knocked down and shaved wool
Image source: CNN
So the question is, why haven't you heard that wild sheep have too much hair?
This is because the hair of wild sheep will naturally fall off, while domesticated sheep will not shed hair as frequently as wild sheep.
According to a study, the sheep that are domesticated today are the descendants of the Morphren sheep (also known as the European pan sheep), and their domestication began about 11,000 years ago.
mouflon
Image source: Wikipedia
For thousands of years, sheep were selectively raised to produce wool for humans, and domestic sheep no longer shed their wool seasonally like wild sheep, and if they were not sheared, their hair would continue to grow wildly.
Overgrown hairs can be harmful to the health of sheep, making them susceptible to injury and infection, and can prevent animals from regulating their body temperature. For example, with this thick hair, it may be quite warm in winter, but in the summer, it is really called a tight air!
Of course, Baarack was shaved after being rescued.
What a cure
Image source: peta.org
Now it looks like this 👇
It's still quite skinny!
It is said that the wool shaved from Baarack's body is enough to weave into 60 sweaters or 490 pairs of wool socks.
Now, Baarack's body is also gradually recovering its health, and he will soon be able to ride freely.
The lamb is cute, but you look into its eyes...
Someone can control dreams and answer questions in dreams!
To dye their hair, leeches, gold powder, beef kidneys, and sulfur were used
References | live science
Translate | Konjani
WeChat Editor | Xie Shuang