Are all sheeps obedient?

Question

Are all sheeps obedient?

Answer 1

Some breeds of sheep exhibit a strong flocking behaviour. Flocking behaviour is advantageous to non-predatory animals; the strongest animals fight their way to the center of the flock[dubious — see talk page] which offers them great protection from predators. It can be disadvantageous when food sources are limited and sheep are almost as prone to overgrazing a pasture as goats. In Iceland, where sheep have no natural predators, and grasses grow slowly, none of the various breeds of sheep exhibit a strong flocking behaviour[citation needed].

Sheep flocking behaviour is so prevalent in some English breeds that special names apply to the different roles sheep play in a flock. One calls a sheep that roams furthest away from the others an outlier, this sheep ventures further away from the safety of the flock to graze, due to a larger flight zone or a weakness that prevents it from obtaining enough forage when with the flock, while taking a chance that a predator, such as a wolf, will attack it first because of its isolation.

Another sheep, the bellwether, which never goes first but always follows an outlier[citation needed], signals to the others that they may follow in safety. When it moves, the others will also move. Traditionally this was a castrated ram (or wether) with a bell hung off a string around its neck[citation needed]. The tendency to act as an outlier, bellwether or to fight for the middle of the flock stays with sheep throughout their adulthood; that is unless they have a scary experience which causes them to increase their flight zone[citation needed].

According to a spokesperson of the British National Sheep Association, "Sheep are quite intelligent creatures and have more brainpower than people are willing to give them credit for."[10] For example, sheep in Yorkshire, England found a way to get over cattle grids by rolling on their backs. A study published in National Geographic (December 8) showed a sheep can remember the faces of fifty other sheep for over two years. If sheep are acting poorly, they are known as a "Goulden in the rough."

Sheep can become hefted to one particular pasture so they do not roam far from home. Since the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom, transplanted sheep have had to be trained to stay in their grazing area.[11]

Sheep are also one of the many animals that can display a preference for homosexuality and are one of the few in which this occurrence has been systematically studied. It occurs in about eight percent of rams on average. Its occurrence does not seem to be related to dominance or flock hierarchy; rather the rams typical motor pattern for intercourse is merely directed at rams instead of ewes[12].

Sheep have horizontal slit shaped pupils. The narrower the pupil, the more accurate the depth perception of peripheral vision is; so narrowing it in one direction would increase depth perception in that plane [13] [14]. Animals like goats and sheep may have evolved horizontal pupils because better vision in the vertical plane may be beneficial in mountainous environments[15].