Sheep in the creek

On my way home yesterday, I saw what has been an odd, albeit not totally unique event. Down on the Amazon creek bed, along the Fern Ridge path in between City View and Oak Patch there are two dark brown sheep that graze the flats. The first time I saw them, maybe 4 or 5 months ago I nearly fell off my bike because they look like small bison. Exactly the color of bison (a deep chocolate with darker tips at the end of the "dread" hair) and roughly the right shape, they are only smaller. I have gotten quite used to seeing nutria, feral cats, ducks, heron/crane birds, and the homeless, but these sheep are always alarming. Yesterday, as I rode home with a brisk tailwind I slowed down to look at them as they munched along the bank.

It reminds me of an essay I read in the New Yorker a few years back. An ornithologist was explaining his fascination with "hunting" for bird sightings in New York City. He mentioned that some birds are quite rare as they migrate through the city on their way to wherever they are going. Explaining why he is so adamant about seeing them as they pass through, he likened it to seeing other rare species in the city. Imagine how many people would turn out if there was a mountain lion walking down Broadway or a bison in times square. Certainly a few sheep eating grass in the creek are not a bison in NYC, but the sheep are worth a slow look. If you find yourself in the area in the afternoon, check em out!!

jeremy