What happened 130 years ago when the “sheep” went crazy?!

The exact cause of the Great Sheep Scare in 1888 is still a mystery. In one mysterious night, tens of thousands of sheep in an area of ​​520 square kilometers were suddenly scared to death.

The night of November 3, 1888, seemed like any other night in the south of England, and the farm animals had been led to their pens like every evening. However, around 8 p.m., people around Oxfordshire heard something they weren't expecting: the very loud bleating of sheep coming from outside their homes.

According to Faradid's report; If anyone dared to look out of his window to find out the cause of this noise, he would be met with one of the strangest events imaginable. The Great Sheep Madness of 1888 is one of those strange events that have puzzled many people to this day.

The great sheep panic of 1888

That night, tens of thousands of sheep suddenly lost consciousness and began to run away as if to save their lives. The sheep had gone wild in their pens, jumping over the fences as if they were paper, jumping over the stone walls and damaging everything in the process.

The next day, the farmers were shocked to find that their flocks of sheep were gone. Tens of thousands of sheep were scattered everywhere, in some cases miles away from their own fields. Farmers were reported to have found their sheep, some hiding under bushes or standing in the streets panting in fear. The rest of the sheep were gathered together in groups in every corner of the fields they found.

The day after the Great Sheep Scare of 1888, a local farmer reported the event to a scientific journal. The farmer had written that all the sheep in the area were terrified of something and had taken refuge in the streets and fields of the city to escape from it.

The interesting point of this farmer's report was his information about the extent of the sheep's terror: “The severity of this event can be judged when we say that every farmer from Wallingford on one side to Twyford on the other reported that his sheep were so frightened and with two “Or three exceptions, it seemed primarily the area north of the River Thames was affected.” Everything that scared the sheep happened in an area of ​​520 square kilometers.

Farmers whose sheep were victims of the great terror of that year could not understand the reason for this terror. It was agreed that the troublemakers usually blamed for sheep scares could not have been the cause of that year's Great Panic. How was it possible for the children of several villages to make the sheep so angry at the same time that all of them broke the fences together out of fear and fled for their lives?

Another possible reason was that the sheep were very scared of the wild dog or fox. Sheep are very timid animals and get very stressed when a dog or fox chases them.

This situation can cause what is called “sheep anxiety”. Sheep anxiety is severe stress caused by fear, which can be fatal enough to cause the death of sheep and the abortion of pregnant sheep. Lambs may also die of starvation or hypothermia if they are separated from their mother and cannot find their mother again. However, it is impossible for one dog or fox to frighten all the herds at the same time in 520 square kilometers.

Looking for a wider phenomenon as the source of the sheep's fear, the farmers began to think that perhaps a weather event had caused the sheep to panic. Loud thunder, extreme weather changes, vibrations caused by an earthquake or a meteor falling to earth are all terrifying for animals.

But nothing like this happened on the night of November 3, 1888. The weather was calm, although the night was described as very dark. Is it possible for tens of thousands of sheep to be afraid of the dark at the same time?

Sheep behavior

Sheep are prey animals and are constantly on the lookout for threats that may harm them. Their senses of smell, sight, hearing, touch and taste are extremely sharp and this makes them more aware of their environment, other herd members and themselves.

Sheep also have the instinct to follow each other and gather together in groups. Sheep, like many prey animals, know that there is strength in numbers, and being in a large and tight group away from the hunter can prevent any sheep from being caught. The herd life instinct can be different depending on the breed, but in any case, all types and breeds of sheep come together as a herd. This is why a single shepherd can take care of a large flock of sheep.

In addition to knowing that there is strength in numbers, sheep also follow each other. If one of the sheep moves, the rest will follow, which can be dangerous. In 2006, in Turkey, about 400 sheep died after following a sheep trying to cross a deep ravine. When it comes to the Great Sheep Scare of 1888, is it possible that this event was started by a frightened sheep that the rest of the sheep followed due to natural instincts and herd mentality?

While no one could determine the cause of the Great Sheep Scare of 1888, everyone was further confused when the same thing happened in 1889 and again in 1893 in the Reading/Oxfordshire area. In the next two panics, the farmers again could not determine the cause of the sudden fear.

A naturalist named Oliver Vernon Aplin became interested in the terror of 1893 and began to investigate the cause of the event. His theory about the cause of the sheep's panic was the “extreme darkness” of outer space.

Alpin had spoken to witnesses who all said that in 1888 it was incredibly dark from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Cloud masses had moved from the northwest to the southeast, completely blotting out the moonlight.

Alpin believed that although sheep can see in the dark, when it gets extremely dark, they may feel trapped and afraid. Alpin explains that all sheep gathered together in a pen feel scared and start to move, but in doing so they bump into other sheep doing the same or objects in the pen.

It was enough for a sheep to start running in fear and soon a domino effect would be created. The whole flock panics and rushes to escape from the danger they feel is following them.

The exact cause of the Great Sheep Scare of 1888 still remains a mystery. The Alpine theory can explain the fear of a flock, but it does not explain why many flocks of sheep in a large area all panicked at exactly the same time. It is still a mystery why tens of thousands of sheep suddenly fainted overnight.