HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – If Robert Irwin had his way, there would be roadside signs in and around Hidden Valley Lake that read “Don’t honk if you like sheep.”
Irwin, whose business is sheep, has discovered a great many Lake Countians appear not to appreciate his stock in trade, which – in the case of the Hidden Valley Lake Association – is bringing in sheep to graze on the weeds.
A third generation sheep man, Irwin was forced to move his more than 400 sheep from an area just north of Hidden Valley Lake to a more secluded place because of problems with motorists.
One of them is the honking of horns.
There are people, Irwin said, “who seem to think that it’s a lot of fun honking and startling the sheep. I don’t know why they’re honking their horns; I don’t know that many people.
“The people that I do know wouldn’t have honked like that.”
Irwin moved the sheep “because they finished the job in the Spruce Grove Road and Highway 29 parcel and went on to weed abate the Conestoga Trail, a 36-acre trail and park for our members,” said HVLA General Manager Cindy Spears.
“Unfortunately, some motorists thought it was a good idea, for whatever motivation, to honk their horns at grazing sheep,” she added. “As Irwin has mentioned, it’s never a good idea to startle livestock. Whether or not the honking precipitated some of the sheep to bolt through two fences is up for conjecture.
“We do know, however, that the sheep are doing a great job at the Conestoga Trail and the association is excited about the environmentally sound and ‘green’ solution to keeping HVLA a Firewise Community,” Spears said.
A more serious issue has been the death of Irwin’s sheep.
Three of his purebred Cordells were run over and killed by motorists on nearby Highway 29 before Irwin and his aides were able to round up the rest of them, as Lake County News has reported.
Irwin does not name the place where his sheep will be residing until July 1 when the contract he has with the HVLA administration is up. It may be presumed it is somewhere close to the Conestoga Trail.
The move to a new location for the sheep occurred after Irwin and HVLA leadership met at the Highway 29 site on Monday morning.
“They’re out of sight, out of mind right now and I’d like to keep it that way,” Irwin said of his sheep.
The sheep that were killed constitute only one of the problems associated with the first time the HVLA administration has used them to keep the weeds at a lower – and therefore less-combustible – height.
What has grown up around the death of the sheep is speculation such as that Lake County News received in a message from an area resident, who raised the issue of either poor fencing or wrong fencing to contain the sheep.
Irwin, however, says everything he uses is “top of the line” equipment.
“The corral comes from New Zealand and is used exclusively for sheep. It’s the best one on the market. We use it to load sheep and doctor sheep,” he said, adding that his fencing comes from the Midwest.
On May 22 there were only two sheep reportedly killed by motorists, but Irwin said a third dead sheep was later found in the high grass along Highway 29.
Irwin said the Lake County incident was the first he has encountered in which his animals were killed.
“I’ve grazed along Highway 20, the 101 freeway and in downtown Ukiah and Hopland and never had my sheep run over,” he added. “Four sheep got out on Saturday and a bunch of bicyclists passing by helped us get them into the corral.”
No sheep have been injured at the corral, but a worker, said Irwin, rolled his ankle.
The belief that an individual or individuals opened the corral to let the sheep out – leading to their deaths – persists, according to HVLA spokesman Jim Freeman.
Irwin’s contract at HVLA is short-term, extending only to July 1.
“I would like it to be long-term if we can iron out some of the wrinkles,” said Irwin. “We’re trying to do something a little different and any time you get an idea you’re going to learn what you weren’t prepared for, but I’m surprised when people are honking their horns over sheep eating grass in an open area.”
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