Aaaand here's what happens to a merino ram who goes on the lam for years and isn't shorn:

[Are_grits_groceries]

Big Ben's had the wool pulled from his eyes and a load taken off his back - and it looks like he's set a new world record in the process.

Big Ben is one of four very woolly sheep that managed to evade Twizel farmer Mike Lindsay for years, but at last they've been found and shorn.

The merino rams were shorn at Omahau Hill Station yesterday and with Big Ben's fleece weighing in at 28.9kg, it's likely he's broken the world record for the heaviest fleece from a single sheep.

The sheep had been on the run since they got onto Department of Conservation land next door to Mr Lindsay's property. "They actually weren't missed for many years," Mr Lindsay told NZ Newswire.
<snip>
More:http://www.3news.co.nz/Big-Bens-fleece-a-likely-new-world-record/tabid/423/articleID/329803/Default.aspx

That would scare the bejesus out of you if you ran into it at night.

[enlightenment]

1. Poor things.

That had to be uncomfortable.

(on another, more selfish note - I am salivating over that much merino fleece!)

[Wounded Bear]

2. It's kind of sad when you think what we've done to some breeds of animals...nt

[In_The_Wind]

4. Indeed

[Grey]

3. 63.5 lbs, that would knit a lot of socks…..

[knitter4democracy]

5. I wonder how much of it is usable.

It likely wouldn't pass a snap test, but if it does, oh my, that is a lot of nice wool.

[kestrel91316]

7. I sure wouldn't want to try and card it........

[knitter4democracy]

9. Oh, no. That I would send off for processing.

That would be crazy to work with.

[kestrel91316]

10. It's seriously felted AND full of vegetable and fecal material.

Hell, there are probably dead rodents in it.

[boston bean]

6. baaaaaaaa

humbug is what the sheep said when they saw their owner after years of being on the lamb.

[LadyHawkAZ]

8. *groan*

[Scuba]

11. That was actually painful.

[dipsydoodle]

12. I'd doubt he felt the cold much.

.

[stevenleser]

13. Yeah, but imagine what the poor thing felt like in Summer!

[dipsydoodle]

14. I thought that worked both ways

and that insulation simply maintained body temperature. Bit like a down duvet on a bed.

[stevenleser]

15. If only. As this New Zealand animal welfare pamphlet points out...

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/regs/animal-welfare/pubs/awfact-sheet-1-sheering-sheep.pdf

I can only guess that this poor Ram managed to find shade he could sit in during the day.

[dipsydoodle]

16. Thanks for that good information.

I'd never realised.

[snooper2]

17. Sombody needs to send this story to the vagina knitting lady

LOL