Geoff and John -

Sometimes it does pay to be lost!

Until the arrival in August, 2006 of Geoff and John all our woolly friends at Edgar’s Mission had arrived as lambs and so quickly became accustomed to human kindness. Not so Geoff, a Border Leicester cross wether and John, a Suffolk cross wether. Both clearly had no interest in humans and in fact they were rather wary of us. We are not sure which, but one of our new arrivals was found wandering the streets of Altona, the other was found also wandering the streets of another Melbourne suburb. Both found themselves homeless, unwanted and unclaimed at the RSPCA shelter. Learning of their plight Edgar’s Mission agreed to rehome them for the rest of their natural life.

Upon their arrival Geoff and John spent their first few weeks in the quarantine section of the mission. This gave us all time to get acquainted with one another. It was not long before both Geoff and John saw us as the bearers of good things to eat, making us welcome visitors to their yard where we would be greeted with a welcome “baaaaaaaaaaaa”. Geoff being a little more forth right than John would stride up for a pat as it meant he got to get first “bite of the cherry”. Today the two older gentlemen have assimilated into the flock well and readily come when called. Geoff can often be seen snooping about the house for a treat with the shy John not too far behind.

Geoff and John, like all sheep differ greatly from their ancestors, this is largely due to domestication which is believed to have occurred around 8,000 years BC in South West Asia. It would seem sheep have paid a hefty price for domestication in that they have lost some of their immunity to internal parasites along with the ability to moult. Today’s sheep are also smaller in many aspects than their forefathers, and are predominantly white. Around 4,000 years BC one of the oldest professions began, that of shepherding. It saw the role of the shepherd as tending his flock, keeping them together, safe and protecting them from predators. Alas for many sheep like Geoff and John there will never be a good shepherd, but thankfully now for Geoff and John they have found theirs at Edgar’s Mission. So sometimes it does pay to get lost!