BOISE, IDAHO (AP) – Why did 2,500 sheep cross the road? Because the grass was greener on the other side.
In Idaho, United States, it’s not unusual to see ranchers moving a bleating herd of sheep up to higher elevation at this time of year. But the sight of 2,500 wooly beasts trotting across a highway earlier this week brought a crowd about 300 people.
It was the largest turnout that Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission spokesperson Steve Stuebner has seen in 15 years.
“It’s a novelty. Maybe they’ve never seen anything like that before, but it’s real typical in Idaho,” he told KTVB-TV. “When you’re out in rural parts of Idaho in the spring and summer, or fall, you could run into a cattle drive or a sheep drive.”
Curious onlookers lined the road as the animals sheepishly entered the highway, guided by ranchers and steered by sheepdogs. They travelled up the road a little ways, the fluffy white herd obscuring the yellow-painted centreline amid a chorus of “baas” and the lead ewe’s jangling bell.
Leaving the open road behind, they will journey through the sagebrush-dotted foothills for a few weeks to their summer home in the Boise National Forest.
This trip up to higher elevations is a tradition dating back around 100 years, the Boise-area TV station reported, and having the sheep graze in the forest helps prevent fires and invigorates plant growth.
