Lost Lamb Sisters Clare and Sarah Find a New Family
Two little lost lambs were found wandering in a New Jersey suburb where having any animals considered livestock — which, crazily, lambs are — is illegal. So what do you do with two lambs on the lam? Well, arrest them immediately, of course.
Lambs on the lam; Sarah peeks out of the police car to check out what is happening.
Okay — they technically were not under arrest, but in the custody of a kind officer who took them to a local dog and cat shelter, where they of course were not happy. Lambs are prey animals — and guess what dogs and cats are? Yes — they are predators. So thankfully, someone in New Jersey reached out to Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue to see if they could take in these sisters.
Manager Jill Tedeschi and Skylands Founder Mike Stura bring the girls into our isolation area.
So Mike Stura from Skylands brought these two cuties to our Watkins Glen sanctuary and we got to know their very, very different personalities.
Checking the babies’ teeth to figure out their age. (Learn more about how we do this, plus many more fun facts about sheep.)
Although they look a whole lot alike, they are very different. Sarah, the larger of the two, is much braver, and the smaller girl, Clare, is very shy and often hides behind her more gregarious sibling.
These are two Jacob lambs, a breed we seem to be seeing more often over the past few years. We have one lone Jacob sheep, Jake, who has been begging us to get more of his people to the sanctuary:
Unlike a pure Jacob sheep, which is a rare breed, many of the Jacobs who come to the sanctuary are likely crosses. As you can see below, the pure Jacob is quite a sight.
Adult Jacob sheep look like this:
Jacob sheep have two sets of horns (polycerate). (Our boy Jake has horns that are fused into one set, so he is not quite so crazy-looking.) The babies may get the two sets, but since they are girls, they also should not look quite like this guy.
Our boy Jake does have the double horns, but unlike the guy pictured above, his are fused.
Cute Jake is very excited about the new kids in the flock.
So back to the girls. The two arrived very malnourished and bony, and because they were not sheared, they looked much healthier in the pictures. Once the shearing occurred a few weeks later, however, they were still very thin.
All sheared and ready to join their new people.
They also were very frightened. Both girls — even Sarah, the braver of the two — spent most of the time running away from us when we entered their area.
And since we know that what sheep want more than anything is the security of the flock, after their quarantine period (which includes multiple clean fecal tests and any treatments, external parasite treatments and checks, hoof trimming, shearing, blood work, vaccines, and checks for the dreaded sore mouth), we were able to let these two cuties join the flock.
Day one in the new flock — entering the barn where they will live out their lives.
To say they were thrilled is an understatement, and the two very quiet young ladies were jumping with joy and happiness to be a part of a huge family.
They are still always together — never far apart at all, for even a second. And when they are, of course they call and call until they find each other. (Sometimes when you are so busy eating grass and not looking up, you accidentally wander into a group of sheep and lose your buddy.)
Is this a sheep or a little cow? — Sarah is checked out by Roger goat while Clare hides behind her. They are not afraid of the sheep or goats, which is amazing to see.
Boldly entering the larger sheep area. Hmmm — not acting the least bit afraid of anyone here.
And Sarah has started to like the human folk and actually will follow caregivers around when they are on the pasture or in the barn. Clare still stays behind her brave sister, but soon they will likely both figure out how much they are loved.
Siblings Roger and Jennifer meet siblings Sarah and Clare.
A very interested flock of sheep checking out the new babies. The new Cattaraugus sheep are checking out the babies.
For now, however, they are safe and in a flock and living the life that all sheep should live: one without stress, one with the love of family, and one where they are seen as the incredible individuals that they are — Sarah and Clare.
Life together and life forever — the way it should be with sisters.
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