July 30, 2021
How Dumb are Sheep - Really?
I still haven't figured out what defines intelligence, but I hear it all the time - pigs are smart, sheep are stupid. Maybe, but what about humans? What use is our superior intelligence when you consider how pathetic we are at birth. Lambs can stand within a few minutes of being born, within 15 minutes they can keep up with their flock - and they know enough to stay close.
Human toddlers, on the other hand, do such self-destructive things that it's kind of hard to see how our superior intelligence is really such a bonus. A baby lamb would never stick a fork in an electrical outlet, put a plastic bag on its head, choke on a small object, swallow something poisonous, lick something metal in the middle of winter, fall down a flight of stairs, superglue it's hooves together, or shove a pea so far up it's nose, it has to be surgically removed.
I don't know how brilliant pigs are either. People say that they are, but I don't really see it.
Stubborn? - oh my yes.
Paranoid and cagey? - absolutely, for sure.
Highly motivated for food?- without a doubt.
Are those the hallmarks of brilliance? I'm not so sure.
I do know sheep are incredibly efficient at being sheep - they've been doing it for thousands of years. And I would venture to say that they are better at being sheep than we are at being humans. Most flocks are domesticated, which means a human is responsible for making sure that they have enough food, plenty of water and are well protected from predators. As I haul hay and water to them all winter, in all kinds of weather, I must admit I don't feel all that smug. As an adult human, I no longer stick things in my ear, or up my nose, and it's been a very long time since I licked a flagpole mid-winter, but I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time catering to those that I think of as being so much less intelligent than myself...