SHEEP. 3 
IV. 
SHEEP. 
Thy flocks the verdant hillside range—Anon. 
I.—CHARACTERISTICS. 
HE sheep (Ovis aries) is naturally a denizen of 
the hills. Its instincts, even in its domesti- 
cated state, attach it to the upland slopes; and 
when free to do so, it always seeks the highest 
grounds, where aromatic plants abound and the 
herbage is less succulent than in the valleys. The wild sheep, 
like the deer, is found to frequent all those places where saline 
exudations abound and to lick the salt earth. In its wild 
state it generally has horns, but these have nearly disappeared 
in most of the domestic breeds. The female goes with young 
twenty-one weeks, and usually produces only one at a birth. 
Twins, however, are not uncommon. 
Immense flocks of sheep have been kept by man in all ages, 
but more generally for their wool and skins than for their flesh; 
for that is by no means generally relished. The Calmucks and 
Cossacks still prefer that of the horse and the camel, and the 
Spaniard, if he can procure other flesh, rarely eats that of the 
Merino. To a majority of Americans it is an object of dislike, 
although it is gaining in favor among us. Englishmen consume 
more mutton than any other people, but the taste for it is of 
modern origin with them. 
The natural age of the sheep, according to Youatt, is about 
ten years, up to which age they will breed and thrive well; 
but there are instances of their breeding at the age of fifteen, 
and living twenty years. 
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