Sheep and helos
 

If there are sheep grazing on your landing area as you approach will they
A) panic and run into the nearest hedge
B) stay still
C) charge the aforesaid threat head on
D)sheepishly move out of the way

We know horses react badly and cows are none too happy either,and too big to argue with,but sheep?

Sheep are thick as hell and although not a heli pilot I would say that you can't be sure what they will do ever.

In general they should flock together. Where that will actually go is in the hands of god.

Lambing time they are more thick than usual so if you get between a mother and a lamb she will go to the lamb away from the flock.

They are also very susceptible to known factors so if the field is used regularly they won't react at all. If its a one off they will react.

If you go to any artillery range they all have sheep grazing on the target areas. They don't move with 105mm HE coming in. Put a smoke down and all hell lets loose.

However, should you park in a field containing sheep for any time, don't be surprised if you come back to find them nibbling away at bits of your machine!!

They all go there because it's the safest place.

A) Yes
B) Never
C) Never
D) Never

Sheep are easily panicked, and the flock will follow one sheep who looks like a leader. The leader usually has no idea where to run, though.

If the sheep have nowhere open to run to, they will run, panic-stricken, into hedges, fences, whatever is in the way - and injure themselves.

If the leader decides to jump over a low spot in a hedge, every single sheep in that field will follow that leader.

If the leader "sees" an obstruction that isn't there, and makes a desperate leap over it - every following sheep will jump exactly the same height, in exactly the same spot. Sheep can jump surprisingly high.

If the sheep have a large field to disperse into, they will follow the leader to a safe (to them) distant spot in the field, and then they will all stop and turn and watch you.

Or they run like hell in their wellknown shelter.
As "handysnaks" wrote, you shouldnt park your ship unattendet for longer time between sheeps. I know of a jetbanger, which was used by sheep as a climbing rock overnight with severe damage to the windscreen :}

skadi

Goats share many of the same responses to that of Sheep.

It was great sport in Iran, during a mis-spent youth, to keep Ali busy rounding up his herd of Goats.

No matter how many times you flew over....the Goats reacted exactly the same....charging off in all directions hither and yon.

With a bit of luck....which provided the right timing....you could have the unmitigated pleasure of seeing said spectacle all day long.....as Ali never figured it out either.

Actually, horses don't react that badly according to a study from Bristol Uni. Cows like you to fly low because they can't raise their heads to look at you, otherwise, they don't bother much, either.

I never found sheep to be much of a problem when patrolling the 11 kv lines.

Phil

Welsh Pilot flying ol' number 10?

+1 to Paco.

If you can land at one end or corner of the field they seem to feel less threatened, and avoid overflying them if you can. There must be enough room for them to get to a comfortable distance or they might try to go over/through the hedge.

Sheep, horses and cattle have never given me a problem at all.

Poultry is another matter, as are poultry farmers with a sniff of compensation for hundreds of "dead" birds...

Cows first run away but usually come back after shutdown to inspect the machine :

Weeze: Kühe belagern Polizei-Hubschrauber

skadi

And if you have a skeeter they will lick the dope off the rotor blades :)

Thanks guys.....so no good using sheep to keep the grass short then!

I remember bad issues with chooks, near Darwin one had only to fly within five miles of a certain chookery and the phone lines to the little men in the glass house would run hot. same issues in Adelaide at Archerfield where the little men brought the stories of chooks heads half a foot further on than their wings thru the netting down to the bar on Friday arvo and how hard they had worked to get us off the hook, meanwhile we had to shout them heaps of calming fluid.

so it was quite different a while later where I one day did a beat up, which involved a low fly over the chook house. Now the six year old son at this joint who was as exuberant a kid as you would ever imagine cottoned onto the fact that this made the chooks punch out more eggs, so whenever I'd arrive there he would tear down and demand a quick flight around with a beat up of the chooks house and proudly skite how many extra eggs he collected.

Still keep in touch with his parents, but that kid now has around seven thousand hours mustering over in Qld. I often wonder whether he beats up chooks houses nowadays.

Back around 1966 I was flying in Libya, they hadn't seen too many helicopters then, the general consensus was that the goats, who scattered as soon as we appeared, were thinking we were birds of prey after their young.

Young cattle, be they steers or heifers, are very, very curious about pretty much anything, older dairy herds are less bothered.

E: Look attractive :E

Sheep and helos
 

I know of a few runways in nz that have sheep grazing. For a while you have to buzz the strip to clear them off before landing but after a while they learn and will move on there own accord when they hear an air craft. Like said above if there are lambs in the mix it's a completely different story

Ah, so you're the one that sign was referring to...

Sign warning of man/sheep sex shows up in Chicago tornado broadcast

:E

I/C

Just passing by as a seasoned sheep owner...

1) As someone said: Don't fly over their heads. They will be scared and run all over the place.

2) Try to land in a corner of the pasture, this will provide the sheep (or goats!) with more options to run around/away.

3) If there is no corner; seek out a place with very few sheep. (Yes, I couldn't resist... ;-D )

4) When you have landed, don't leave your machine unattended. I vouch for sheep (and goat) curiousity and if that machine is unattended you might very well have sheep aviation school going on when you return.

5) Sheep are often very friendly once they have sniffed you on your cheek (they don't go for the crotch like dogs..) and usually love a nice petting.

6) Never feed bread or the like to sheep and goats.

So...

A - YES!! (It can be a lot of fun watching them but please remember that they can literally die if they get too scared... farmer wanting money for dead sheep... local news... you see where I'm going...)
B - no
C - no
D - no