CS-2016-txt-ART.indd 21
AN UNEXPECTED SIGN
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Review copy only—not for distribution.
are there to oversee and care for flocks of sheep,
protecting them from predatory beasts and other
thieves.
This on its own is hard for a 21st-century
Australian to get their head around, because
sheep farming in Australia is not like this. These
days we don’t even call the people who look after
sheep ‘shepherds’. They’re sheep farmers… like…
pig farmers. In Australia, ‘shepherds’ have no
emotional or personal connection to their sheep
as individuals (unless all of them die at once in
a drought or a flood—then they might get a bit
emotional). Firstly, this is because there can be
thousands of sheep in any one flock, and they
are not the cuddly kind of sheep that Mary (of
nursery rhyme fame) would take to school. They
are dirty, paddock and bush roaming creatures.
And they smell bad. Secondly, the sheep farmers will round them up using motor bikes and
riding horses, then treat them pretty roughly
when it comes time for shearing, worming, or
drenching. Sheep farming in Australia is not
pretty, and if you lose a few of the flock to foxes
or dogs… well, they are just sheep. You’ve got
12/09/2016 1:02 PM