Animals in winter 5 (Sheep)

Doing what sheep do, following a leader. Many people think this is silly but sheep are herd animals whose best chance of survival lies in bunching up together like shoals of fish and flocks of birds. 

Many poets have been written about sheep in winter but the best remains John Clare whose sympathies always include both the animals and their human custodians.

Sheep in Winter
The sheep get up and make their many tracks
And bear a load of snow upon their backs,
And gnaw the frozen turnip to the ground
With sharp quick bite, and then go noising round
The boy that pecks the turnips all the day
And knocks his hands to keep the cold away
And laps his legs in straw to keep them warm
And hides behind the hedges from the storm.
The sheep, as tame as dogs, go where he goes
And try to shake their fleeces from the snows,
Then leave their frozen meal and wander round
The stubble stack that stands beside the ground,
And lie all night and face the drizzling storm
And shun the hovel where they might be warm.
by John Clare