Trio of Sheep, Iceland Postcard

"Trio of Sheep, Iceland" by Catherine Sherman. Three Icelandic sheep pause from grazing in a rocky lava field to gaze at onlookers. These sheep are free roaming in the willow woodlands and meadows in northern Iceland, near Husavik. This area has many areas of lava, where moss, lichen and plants cover the rocks and grass grows among the rocks. Descended from the same stock as the Norwegian Spelsau, Icelander sheep were brought to Iceland by the first settlers. They've been bred for a thousand years in a very harsh environment. The fleece of the Icelandic sheep is dual-coated and occurs in white and a variety of other colors, including a range of browns, grays, and blacks. Most sheep in Iceland roam freely. A sheep farmer told us that they round up the sheep in late fall, usually on horseback or in a vehicle. The sheep are then sorted in a circular corral with pie-shaped segments for each farmer, and each sheep farmer takes his flock to his farm. The sheep are then shorn of their fleece and spend the winter in a sheep house or barn. In March they are shorn again, and in May are released to graze as free rangers in the mountains and meadows.