What makes sheep smart

These animals are smart enough to understand risk in certain circumstances. Sheep healthy enough to withstand ticks venture into better pastures despite insect risks.

Less healthy sheep will avoid this. Sheep can learn new methods and ways to survive by watching other members of their flock. One of the main reasons why sheep stay in flocks is the safety they get in numbers. Each individual sheep will watch out for the others, keeping an eye out for predators and other sources of danger. This impacts the ways the flock splits and moves around.

In a flock, the most gregarious of the sheep tend to be the ones leading the way as the flock moves around. The fact that sheep have individual personalities means that each individual can play different roles in the herd and create a complex social organization. As mentioned earlier, sheep experience a full range of emotions.

The personality an individual animal has will affect the way it experiences those feelings. These animals can even perceive what is behind them without having to turn their heads.

It has also been discovered that sheep can see a number of different colors. In fact, they feel alarm when they see new colors. These animals also have excellent hearing.

This is essential for them to stay safe and hear any predators or any other dangers that might be nearby. The anatomy of sheep ears mean that they can be moved around to help facilitate better hearing. Sheep are incredibly caring mothers and form deep bonds with their babies. Our sweet sheep friend Pearl gave birth to two beautiful lambs at the sanctuary, Judy and Jewel, and even after two years they still spend almost all of their time together.

They eat together, explore the pasture together, and cuddle up in the barn together. Despite the popular belief that sheep are stupid, they are actually incredibly intelligent.

They have very impressive cognitive ability and just like humans, they form deep and lasting bonds with each other, they stick up for one another in fights, and they grieve when they lose a friend. They experience all of the same emotions that we do including fear, joy, boredom, anger and happiness to name a few.

In addition to being incredibly smart, they also have wonderful memories! They use plants and other substances that otherwise hold no nutritional value to them to prevent or treat disease, and teach their young to do the same.

Sheep are capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions, just as humans do. Many studies have highlighted the ability for sheep to feel afraid, angry, bored, sad and happy.

Not only are sheep able to feel basic emotions, but their feelings can be very complex and include interactions between emotions and cognition. For example, believe it or not, scientific studies have shown that sheep can be pessimists and optimists! This groove is called a philtrum. Sheep are very picky grazers, also referred to as browsers, and prefer to eat only the best vegetation. The philtrum allows them to select the leaves and other vegetation that they like.

Sheep form strong bonds between one another, such as those between a mother and her lamb, and other friendships. Studies have revealed they are able to recognize and distinguish between different emotional expressions, such as pictures of sheep with calm expressions, startled expressions and fearful expressions.

This is a very important skill for sheep to have, as learning how other sheep are feeling is the basis for forming social relationships. They are even able to recognize human faces! Want to learn more about farm animals? Use the form below to subscribe to FarmSense e-newsletter. You will receive news and information on what the BC SPCA is doing to help further farm animal welfare in Canada, delivered straight to your inbox four time per year!

Search by postal code:.