A sheep found wandering the streets of Woodstock has undergone a dramatic transformation, shedding just over 10kg of wool after three years on the run.
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Woody, a merino sheep, was discovered loitering at the Woodstock commons late last year. After leaving a community paddock, Woody had taken up residence near the local tip, relying on food and water left by residents.
Prompted by concern about his large fleece, some residents contacted the Cowra Guardian in search of a shearer who could take him on. Last week members of the Woodstock community decided to bring him in.
Volunteers from the Woodstock Rural Fire Service began the chase last Wednesday. Matthew Blazley made the capture.
Fire captain, Robert "Robbo" Moodie, said a scan of Woody's ear tag showed his last recorded location was the Cowra saleyards, some 20km away, up to three years ago.
"The sheep was originally from Grenfell," Moodie said. "I rang the bloke and he said he sold it probably two or three years ago. We found him on the (town) common, with the cattle. He thinks he's a cow - anywhere the cows go, he goes."
RSPCA NSW inspectors visited the commons late last year, after residents called to get in touch about the wandering wether, but were unable to return when Moodie called.
"There have been a few people around town here all concerned about it," Moodie said. "We decided let's do something and give this sheep a home."
Woody spent three days drying in Blazley's shearing shed, with shearing completed by veteran rouser, Mathew "Boycey" Boyce, who estimated that the merino had missed at least three shearing seasons but said he had avoided flystrike, which can lead to deadly bacterial infections.
"It's good to see him all cleaned up," he said. "I reckon there's 10, 10 and a half kilos of wool on him."
The average fleece weight from a merino shorn annually is 4.5kg.
Boyce was prepared for a fight but found the wether to be a very willing customer.
"He knows he's being helped," he said. "I'm happy with my handwork and any challenge, I'll accept it."
Five-year-old Tom Flint said Boycey's work was "11 out of 10."\
While the young farmer is more of a trucks and tipper man himself, Tom told the Cowra Guardian he reckoned the sheep had been on the lam(b) for far longer than the estimated three years.
"He hasn't been shorn for about a hundred years," he said. "Maybe fifty or forty years."
Woody's fuzz and fleece were no match for the record set by Chris the merino, a fellow wooly wanderer who spent 15 years traversing Canberra's trails and paddocks before losing a world-record 41kg of fleece. Chris was captured in 2015 and died in an animal sanctuary in 2019.
Blazley, who shared morning tea with the small crowd watching the shearing on Saturday, said it had been a "satisfying" success. Despite some weight-loss wobbles, Woody was soon happily receiving pats, preparing for his next home.
Woody will be rehomed to four hectares of grazing land on the outskirts of town, alongside horses and sheep.
