People say all the time: “sheep are stupid.” I beg to differ. They have a certain way of looking at the world, that’s all.
Long ago, we had an American Blackbelly lamb named Amber who grew up with a batch of kittens born at lambing time. She became fast friends with a young female cat, Tasha. The cat
was convinced that she was superior—and yet, she deigned to play crazy-chase with Amber all
over the pasture.
One day when they had reached approximate adolescence, Tasha was sitting sphinx-like on a fence rail in the barn: There were humans present and one must be dignified!
Amber wanted to play.
She jumped in front; Tasha turned her head away and licked a paw. She jumped behind; Tasha looked nobly at the rafters, thinking great thoughts.
Amber ran up silently, grabbed Tasha’s tail in her mouth, and PULLED!!! Tasha fell on the ground in a distinctly undignified manner, yowling in dismay. Amber walked off nonchalantly, but I am sure I saw a big grin on her sheepy face.
Take that, pussy cat!