Rogue Australian Ram Produces 78 Pounds of Wool
Sometimes a new haircut can make you feel like a new person. Imagine the relief when Baarack the Merino ram was shorn of an amazing 78 pounds of overgrown wool! Look closely at the image above, that's not some well camouflaged Army sniper, that's a sheep.
According to the story in the The Guardian, the rogue ram was spotted running wild and reported to Edgar's Mission, an animal sanctuary in Victoria, Australia.
The folks from Edgar's Mission tracked him down, captured him and named him Baarack. Once they got him back to the mission they set up a long overdue appointment with some clippers.
When all the clipping was done Baarack had been shorn of 78 pounds of Merino wool. Based on 70% yield that would produce around 490 pairs of wool socks or 61 Merino wool sweaters.
According to Wikipedia, a typical Saxon Merino sheep can produce about 10 pounds of wool a year, while some Peppin Merino rams can produce up to 40. That being said, Baarack's appointment with the shearer was long overdue. So much so that if he hadn't been spotted, captured and shorn his heavy woolen coat might have killed him. The growth around his face had already begun obscuring his vision and just getting around with that much weight on him was difficult making it almost impossible for him to avoid predators.
Once they'd cut away all of that wool it was discovered that Baarack had been tagged at some point in his life, so he had somehow been separated from the herd and left to fend for himself in rural Australia. The folks at Edgar's Mission said it was a good thing he made his way to them when he did because while he's recovering quite well now, he was quite malnourished and in pretty rough shape when they met him.
It's safe to say Baarack is a lot happier with his new look and all of the attention he's getting at the animal sanctuary.