“I knew we had to act fast.”
Recently, some people out for a walk were wandering near a paddock in Australia when they noticed a strange rock in the distance. As they approached, they slowly realized the object wasn’t a rock at all but rather, a friendly, abandoned sheep, whose coat had grown to a dangerous length.
Concerned, the walkers called Edgar’s Mission for help.
“[She] looked more like the lichen-covered boulders in the area … than her [own] kind,” Edgar’s Mission wrote in a press release.
When she saw video footage of the sheep pacing confusedly in a circle, sanctuary founder and director Pam Aher was concerned.
“I knew we had to act fast,” Aher said in the press release.
After confirming with local authorities that they could take the animal, rescuers from Edgar’s Mission raced into the paddock and brought the sheep, later named Methuselah, into their care.
With so much wool covering her eyes, Methuselah couldn’t see a thing. When she was finally sheared, the grateful sheep’s personality immediately changed.
“It was like someone had turned the lights on for the poor lass,” Aher said. “She just looked up at us as if to say thank you, and her demeanor changed from fearfully cowering to happily munching on fresh hay.”
After freeing her face, rescuers removed the rest of the 54 pounds of wool from Methuselah’s small frame. The newly slim sheep was given two warm coats to help her adjust.
Methuselah is staying at Edgar’s Mission, where she’s already made friends with Adam, another rescue sheep.
Aher knows Methuselah wouldn’t have made it much longer in the paddock on her own, and she’s so grateful for the proactive animal lovers who decided to help that day.
“Methuselah’s life would have been pretty terrifying,” Aher said in the press release. “We are so thankful to the kind-hearted walkers who made the call.”
