Recognize this animal?

[markc]

[jedman]

  Ahh No,   But it looks like its interested in the lunar module that landed in the clearing.   

[BUGEYE]

Lechwe doe??

[drdougrx]

Really young hybrid sheep??

[markc]

lunar module.   Ha. Thats funny.  Doc, there are a boat load of those hybrids out there, and some pretty nice rams too.   She brought a friend to the feeder that evening.  They rarely come to a feeder out there, but they did in October.

[Old Syko]

Gotta show my ignorance.  What is a hybrid sheep?  Usually a hybrid is a crossbreed of some sort.  Is this a cross between a sheep and goat or what, or am I just out in left field?  Is this something new and introduced to Texas or what?  Help educate me please.

[drdougrx]

Hey Syko!

Hybrid sheep are just crosses of different species.  I don't think a goat can cross with a sheep and produce young....but I bet they try!!! 

[Old Syko]

After seeing this thread I did a quick search and found talk of crossing sheep with goats.  Now I didn't read far enough to see if they were talking about the cross being natural or something done by gene splicing in a lab.  Any idea what the advantage is of crossing different species of sheep or was this something that occurred naturally?


Doug thanks for the response.  I'm not afraid of admitting to not knowing something and I'm sure not afraid to learn.

[BUGEYE]

markc, well, what is it??

[Flashole]

The scale and clarity of the two subject matter seem off.  I don't even know what the item on the left is either.  Looks to have a knob you could turn with one hand and what appears to be screw heads around the bottom.  If  the items are as close together as they look on my screen this animal is about as big as a squirrel.   Then it could just be a strange camera angle

[markc]

The item on the left is a "Capsule" Game Feeder that holds 500# of feed, corn, protein or what ever.   It is about 4' in diameter.  We use it along with old style 55gallon drum feeders for our Wildlife Valuation program on our place.   The sheep is a ewe, a corsican/Mouflon type mix.  They are all over out there and come in avariety of colors.  She came in with another ewe.  There were 3 rams about 100yds off, one of which was quite nice.   I see them fairly regulary back there on the steepest of hill sides. 
 
Flashole. the sheep was right beside the feeder.  Look at the top of the feeder and you can see a solar panel on top The large round black cap on the side is the opening for adding feed.  It stands about 4' tall.  100# empty weight.
 
 
Here's another pic of the capsule for size comparison.

[Larry L]

Your place must be out around the Bracketville area. That's an Aoudad female sheep better known as a Barbary Sheep. These were imported by Doc Harding of Edwards County back in the early 70's. I spent several years out there after they got loose from him attempting to bring them back to the ranch and under control. Needless to say, it didn't happen. But Me and a friend sure put a lot of them down. Doc Hardings ranch is just south of Carta Valley about 10 miles. I've seen these critters all the way to Mountain Home now. And with a lot of the "ranchers" bringing in exotics to hunt, there's not much telling what you'll see in that part of Texas anymore. My brother at Mirando has free roaming buffaloes now that are destroying fences as they go. You'd think they'd be an easy hunt but they're anything but easy. Just because you see them doesn't mean yer gonna get a shot and you may not see them again for months. They do like that brush country and know how to use it.

[Flashole]

Sorry Markc
Never saw a feeder like that.  I did catch the solar panel and also thought it was a  small LED

[markc]

Hey Larry, we do have some Aoudad out there, but I believe this ewe is not one.  Wrong coat, no horns at all, body conformation is different.  The Aoudad ewes we have seen out there all have the same color as the rams, tan, sandy color.  Every mature Aoudad ewe I've seen had some horns, smaller than the male Aoudad. 
Flashole, I found the Capsule feeder from an internet search for hog proof feeders.  So far they really are, and they do not lose any feed to raccoons or the wind as the 55 gallon drum feeders tend to do.  Hogs can not knock it over, and so far have not been able to open it up.  Well worth the high cost, and we plan to add one each year as a replacement for the traditional style feeders.

[drdougrx]

Silly question...where exactly does the feed co,me out???