Smarties

Sheep are extremely intelligent animals. They are fast learners and creative problem-solvers. The more humans study sheep the more we marvel at their wit. Sheep cognitive capacities, scientists have shown, parallel those of macaque monkeys who are considered one of the smartest animals in the world. This section features stories of sheep doing clever things.

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Young Harvey works out how to open the gate latch

Text by Sharon

Harvey is a clever chap. One of the things he did while still very little was work out how to open the latch on the night yard gate we had created for the lambs to keep them safe. It was a transition from our front deck to a shed and fenced area Paul had constructed in the rear yard for them. They were fed in that shed in the evening, and it had their mineral boxes, water, and beds that were transferred from the front deck. It also had a significant grazing area for them, all they could want overnight, we thought.

As it often happens, Harvey had other ideas, and after watching us he worked out how to open the gate. We found out it was Harvey by observing after it had occurred a few times. If he could see us, or thought we were there, he would not do it, so it took some time for us to catch him at it. And of course, once Harvey had been observed by the other lambs, the latch needed to be changed. Subsequently we gave the lambs free range of the fenced area and enclosed our house yard, creating the creche area – it was easier to enclose us humans!