Sheep body language
Since the body language of cats is pretty common knowledge, I haven’t had to research it too much for fic-writing purposes. I haven’t gotten a chance to interact with sheep nearly as often as I have cats, though, so I find myself looking up the body language of sheep quite often. I thought it might be helpful/interesting to share some of what I’ve found over the years of writing CotL fics, in case anyone wants to use it to help with their writing/art c: Some of this I’ve learned from professional/farming resources, but most of it is honestly just from reading forums about sheep and reading the “informal data” about people’s experiences with sheep!
- Stomping, quite predictably, means a sheep is irritated/aggressive, but their stomping isn’t actually all that loud as you might expect with hooves. (Thus, it’s easy to misjudge how aggressive a sheep might be feeling if their stomping is fairly quiet.)
- If they’re pawing someone, though, it often means they’re trying to pester for treats/pets.
- Ears turned sideways or a bit backwards means a sheep is relaxed. Pointing backwards usually indicates fear. Pointing forwards, especially if the head is tilted up, can indicate either stress or curiosity (the common denominator here is the sheep is trying to figure out what’s going on/if something is unfamiliar or new). Asymmetrical ears are associated with stress or frustration as well.
- Scared or uncomfortable sheep might drop their heads, as if to blend in with the flock/their surroundings
- If the ears are flicking, the sheep is probably frustrated or stressed. Their ears tend to move more often the more uncomfortable they are
- They also tend to snort when they’re annoyed
- Half-shut eyes indicate feeling safe, but squinting can indicate the sheep’s in pain. Another common sign of pain is grinding their teeth.
- Bunting is an aggressive gesture, and so is lowering the head/presenting the forehead and backing up (preparing to bunt).
- On a similar note, head pets or horn touches can similarly be taken as a show of dominance/challenge since rams headbutt. Top-of-the-head pets should be given with caution, only if you know the sheep enjoys it, but it’ll depend on the individual
- Common places sheep like to be pet: base of/behind/inside the ears, under-neck, under the jaw, chest, under the belly, top of the tail, behind the horns (apparently sheep can get itchy behind the horns). If they’re really happy with the scratches they might lick the air.
- Happy tail wiggles.
- Sheep can get the zoomies when they’re excited.
- It takes about 4-5 sheep to get them to display their normal flocking behaviors. Isolation from other sheep “causes severe stress and should be avoided,” and sheep separated from their mothers in young childhood tend to be more anxious in adulthood even when in company of others :)
Take the above info as much or as little as you’d like to, since we’re all making fan creations that are fictional anyway so you should do whatever you want forever. Anyway, have fun with these
HEHEHEH