Two New Soays and an Oyster Catcher

I am thrilled to tell you I collected my two new Soays last night. These two are wethers (castrated rams) and are the same age as my two females Yaisah and Shulah.
I wasn't sure what to call these two as I'd been so used to finding girl's names for the rest of my sheep. I must have looked through most of the boy name sites Google could offer and eventually the decision was made.
Well, I actually used a name my hubby really liked as he had not named any of my other sheep.
So, may I present to you.......



IVAN



and KIPP



As I said, my hubby chose the name Ivan which means "God is gracious". The name Kipp means "dweller on the pointed hill". This is so appropriate for where I have my sheep I couldn't quite believe I'd found it while I was going through every list from A to Z.
It's amazing how important it is to find the right name for a pet, just as it is with our children!
If you scroll back up and look closely at Ivan's photo you will see he has distinctive lines down each side of his face, not unlike a gazelle. It is often said that Soay sheep resemble gazelle and goats more than they do sheep.
Here is a photo of a baby Soay I took the other week and also a photo of a baby gazelle (which I didn't take!). I think you'll agree that, apart from the length of their ears, there is a strong similarity between the facial features and head shape of these two beautiful animals. Have a look.......

Baby Soay


Baby Gazelle


I found it very interesting and also quite amazing!

One difference you may have noticed between Ivan and Kipp is that Ivan has longer and more pointed horns than Kipp. There is nothing wrong with this. Ivan may just be maturing slightly quicker or just naturally have larger horns. Soays are very slow maturing sheep and if you see the difference between one that's a year old and one that two year old there is far more difference than you would see on general sheep types. I look forward to seeing how big my Soays are this time next year. I'll maybe even have had lambs from my two females if I get them mated at the end of this year. That may be a problem because I don't have a separate field to put them in with a ram. I would need to start asking around now so I am well organized before the time comes.

I'm going to finish today with a photo of a very unusual sight. This is an Oyster Catcher (known in Shetland as a Shalder). Believe it or not she has made her nest on top of a fence post, right at the side of a busy, noisy road and about 100 yards from my sheep park! How cool is that? I didn't even realize to begin with that she was nesting there. I thought she was just sitting watching the traffic go by or something! But no, it would seem she is on some eggs, although I've never crossed the road to find out. I'm just assuming she is. I would never disturb nature at any point or for any reason unless to take an animal out of danger. When I went up to the sheep park she was resting with her head under her wing. When I came back just over an hour later she was more alert. So here's Mrs Shalder........




The second photo is not very good. The sun was not in the best place by the time I was leaving the sheep park. My excuse and I use it all the time!!! Ha ha!
OK that's it for today folks. I hope you found something of interest there. Please feel free to comment, tell me what you else you want me to write about, I'll always do my best to keep this little blog interesting.
Until next time, remember joy is found in the simplest of things in this life.