[blackbelly] aggressive rams

[Carol J. Elkins]

Barb, Mary, Chris, and Rhonda have all given excellent advice about how a 
shepherd should modify his or her behavior around a ram and not expect a 
ram to modify his. Mary and I raise Barbados Blackbelly sheep, and even 
without horns these rams are equally dangerous. We choose to keep our rams 
instead of butchering them because there are so few breeding rams of this 
breed in the U.S. that we must preserve every one we have, nasty 
disposition or not. But if you DO have a choice about keeping an aggressive 
ram, I would suggest choosing to butcher him. In the long run, you will be 
safer and happier.

This discussion has occurred several times over this list's history. And 
every time, there are a few people who respond with "Gee, my ram is really 
nice." I cringe every time I read that kind of response because it is just 
inviting disaster. If you have a good-natured ram, good for you. But we 
don't know how old your ram is or what his pecking order is or any of the 
other circumstances that can affect a ram's behavior. So I beg you to 
please not give new shepherds any kind of response that might lead them to 
believe that THEIR ram might also be an exception to the rule. Let them err 
on the side of safety. I don't want the new shepherd, or the shepherd with 
the friendly ram, to come back to this list in a year to tell us that the 
ram just put them in hospital or killed their grandson. This is a 
tremendously friendly list and most folks go out of their way not to 
offend. But when it comes to safety, please take a lesson from Mary. Her 
email clearly stated that she did not want to offend, but she also was very 
clear about the danger involved. Don't be afraid to tell list members stuff 
for their own good. If you don't make it personal, then they won't take 
offense. And even if you do make it personal, I'd rather have an offended 
reader than a dead one.

Carol

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