Can sheep eat meat? Check out the weird behaviors of "eating a sheep"!

Copy review: Ran Hao, a well-known popular science writer

Since September 13, a small elimination game called "Sheep and Sheep" has become popular on the Internet. "Sheep and Sheep" seems to be similar to the classic elimination game "Connect the Dots", but the developer designed an "unconventional" game difficulty curve. After the simple first level, the difficulty of the second and third levels gradually increases exponentially, causing a large number of players to "complain" about it hysterically and beat their chests on social networks. But do you know that compared with this weird "Sheep and Sheep" with a clearance rate of less than 0.1%, some sheep in nature are also very weird. Let's get to know them below!

Sheep on the tree

Monkeys, cats, koalas, etc. are not surprising to us, but how can goats climb trees? In the southwestern region of Morocco, a type of Argan tree (Argania spinosa, also known as "Argan tree") with nuts is common. Local goats often climb up this Argan tree. This is really jaw-dropping. The rumor of "goats climbing trees" is not groundless. This makes us have to raise a few questions.

Goats climbing an argan tree in Morocco Source | Wikipedia/marco arcangeli

First of all, can sheep really climb trees? Yes! Some sheep are quite good at climbing trees. Goats have good balance and are relatively slender, so they can move around trees with relative ease. If you look carefully, you will also find that sheep's hooves are divided into two parts, and the shape is a bit like the "clip" in the claw machine, which can be fixed on the tree very well. In addition, there is a short and thick dewclaw on the upper back of the sheep's hoof, which can also help with gripping when climbing trees. Sheep really have "equipment" for climbing trees!

Schematic diagram of the location of the sheep's overhanging hoof. The arrow points to the source of the overhanging hoof | Wikipedia/Marius Kallhardt

Secondly, why do goats in Morocco climb trees instead of staying on the ground? The secret lies in the "argan nuts" on the argan trees. As local food resources are relatively scarce, argan nuts have become one of the important food sources for goats living here. They will climb trees to look for nuts. Witnesses said that some Moroccan goats even climbed to the top of the tree, which is about 9 meters high.

Eating in the treetops is like walking on flat ground Source: pixabay

The Berber tribesmen living near Adigar and Essaouira also "encourage" the goats to climb trees, because after the goats eat the nuts, the remaining fruits excreted with the feces will be "softened" , so that the Berber tribesmen can easily crack the nuts and extract nut oil from them. This nut oil can be spread on bread like salad dressing and jam. Although it is a good idea, but... Emmm...

The manual production of argan oil is laborious, requiring the fruit to be dried in the sun and then crushed with stones. The fruit, which has been "softened" by sheep and then pulled out, is much easier to handle...

Source: Wikipedia/RoubinakiM

In addition to southwestern Morocco, "sheep on trees" can also be seen in neighboring western Algeria, which is also an important distribution area of ​​argan trees. However, although there are indeed "sheep on trees" wonders in these areas, the "trees full of sheep" scene that has gone viral on the Internet is more or less a hoax!

Goats on Argan Tree Source: pixabay

In April 2019, British environmental photographer Aaron Gekowski found that local farmers in Marrakech drove goats together and forced them to climb trees. After many goats posed on the argan trees, they opened a "paid photo" service for tourists who came to visit. In order to maintain balance, the goats posing on the trees will soon feel tired, so the local residents will let these goats come down and let another group of goats pose on the trees, and so on, to earn income from tourists. In this regard, Dr. Chris Draper of the International Born Free Foundation expressed concern: "Local residents force goats to climb trees collectively, which is actually an abuse of goats, which means that they will not be able to enter the shade or forage in the normal way."

Sheep climbing

Just now I said that the "equipment" on the goat can climb trees. If so, can it climb other things? Of course, there are not only tree climbers, but also rock climbers. In fact, if we think about the Chinese name of goats, which contains the word "mountain", we can feel that they are good climbers. But among these mountain climbers, there is also a small group of "elites among the elites" - wild goats that can climb cliffs .

Wild goats living in the Alps Source: pixabay

Wild goats living in the Alps have an ideal habitat in the rocky areas along the snow line above the alpine forests, which are steep and rugged terrains at an altitude of 1,800 to 3,300 meters. On a dam in the Antrona Valley Natural Park in Italy, people often see wild goats in the Alps climbing up the nearly vertical dam walls to obtain mineral salt deposits necessary for their bodies from the stones. The photographer exclaimed: "The spectacular sight of these creatures trying so hard to overcome gravity is a thirst for the elements necessary for life!"

Sheep eating chicken

Gentle sheep are herbivores, which may be one of the earliest things we know since we were old enough to understand. But have you ever thought about whether sheep really only eat vegetables? Do they not eat meat at all? Please prepare your scalp to tingle below... In 2017, a video of "sheep eating chicken" went viral online. A sheep stood calmly in front of a box full of chicks, leisurely took the chicks into its mouth, and chewed them slowly...

However, although goats are herbivores, some behavioral observations of goats show that they may try to eat meat at certain times. Gail Damero, who runs a family farm in Tennessee, USA, based on her many years of experience in raising livestock and poultry, mentioned in her book "Who's Killing My Chickens?" that many eyewitness records have confirmed that cattle, sheep, deer and other herbivores have eaten small poultry or eggs. If small poultry or eggs are lost in places where cattle, sheep or deer graze, they may have been eaten by these herbivores. Indeed, your stereotypical "herbivores" eating meat is nothing new. In March 2007, a video of an Indian cow gnawing on a chicken circulated on the Internet.

Source | Navomiya

Some researchers believe that herbivores accidentally tasted poultry or eggs while grazing, and they would deliberately look for more of the same taste. Other scholars speculate that the abnormal appetite of herbivores may be caused by mineral deficiencies, most notably calcium deficiency. Darren Naish, a paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, believes that what we think of as pure herbivores may be much less than we previously thought, and eating meat may be a fairly normal behavior for herbivores.

Sheep in the sky

Not only can sheep climb trees, they are also one of the earliest land animals on Earth to "go to the sky".

In June 1783, the first modern hot air balloon designed by French inventors the Montgolfier brothers was tested in Annonay, France. Made of linen on the outside and tightened with three layers of thin paper on the inside, the balloon contained nearly 800 cubic meters of air and weighed more than 220 kilograms. It flew about 2 kilometers at an altitude of 1,600 to 2,000 meters and took about 10 minutes.

In October 1783, the Montgolfier brothers conducted a balloon flight experiment. Source: Wikipedia

In September of the same year, the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated the hot air balloon flight again for King Louis XVI of France, Queen Marie Antoinette, princes and ministers, and more than 100,000 Parisians at the Palace of Versailles in Paris. This time, they put "passengers" in the basket of the hot air balloon, which were a sheep, a duck and a chicken. The reason for choosing sheep as the "test pilot" of the hot air balloon was that people at that time believed that sheep and humans had similar physiological states. If sheep could survive at high altitudes, then humans should be able to survive as well. The flight lasted about 8 minutes and flew about 3,500 meters at an altitude of more than 400 meters. In the end, the hot air balloon landed safely and the "passengers" were safe and sound. In order to reward the sheep, it was sent to the king's zoo after the experiment.

He can climb trees, climb mountains, eat meat occasionally to "improve his life", and even went to the sky for experiments. Does this kind of "sheep-catching" feel more "weird" to you than in the game?