During the El Nino winter of 1997-98 we had, in Northern California, what became known as the "Great Deluge": measurable rain every single day from December 28, 1997 to (IIRC) February 5, 1998. We had so much rain that articles appeared in Spin-Off about California's "green sheep"; the sheep's fleece was damp for so long that the VM sprouted. I've spun fleeces from that year and didn't notice any difference (i.e., breaks, tenderness) in the fleece, but my fleeces came off coated sheep with shelter in their pasturage, so YMMV.
Perhaps if you go back to the list archives for mid-1998, you may find posts from people commenting on the quality of fleece coming out of Northern California, and whether or not the wet weather affected the fleece. Dawn Jacobson http://dtjacobson.blogspot.com/ On 4/28/07, Lynn C. wrote: > > It really has been a wet winter in the Pacific Northwest! I am not a > shepherd, but I would wonder if perhaps your sheep are experiencing some > kind of wool rot? If the constant rain we've been having caused the > fleeces to become wet down to the skin, and kept the water from > evaporating, the fleece could get a fungus down near the skin where it's > nice and warm. That could cause it to break and slough off. The back > would be the part that would stay wettest. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
