USE CAUTION WHEN USING TEETH TO CASTRATE LAMBS. Sounds like good advice. According to Marc Abrahams at io9,
"On June 29, 2011, the Wyoming Department of Health was notified of two laboratory-confirmed cases of Campylobacter jejuni enteritis among persons working at a local sheep ranch. During June, two men had reported onset of symptoms compatible with campylobacteriosis. Both patients had diarrhea, and one also had abdominal cramps, fever, nausea, and vomiting. One patient was hospitalized for 1 day. Both patients recovered without sequelae. During June, both patients had participated in a multiday event to castrate and dock tails of 1,600 lambs. Both men reported having used their teeth to castrate some of the lambs. Among the 12 persons who participated in the event, the patients are the only two known to have used their teeth to castrate lambs."
Human behavior has an almost infinite range. The more people there are, the more possibilities. With almost 400 million people, the US and Canada have the feedstock to produce a lot of bizarre behavior. We ain't seen nuthin', yet.
It's my understanding that Wyoming regularly culls their sheep castrators.
ReplyDeleteThe screw ups wind up in Texas.
Having spent time in my youth in Wyoming, this is just considered "rough" foreplay and sheep ARE nervous!
ReplyDeleteAmazingly the state that never met a regulation it didn't hate or a law person it wasn't willing to shoot if said person got in the way, has become concerned about the ill effects of fractionation. Somehow some state agency has become more concerned about flammable water taps, exploding wells and dying cattle than say the geniuses that run Alberta the home of Ethical Oil and childrens' hospital wards in tents where it hits forty below (Oil rich Alberty was so poor (or so confused about priorities) the kiddie ward of Edmonton Hospital was for at least awhile accommodated in a tent, in winter). After all, you don't want to make 'dem poor Big Oil Corps have to go pay higher royalties to say Nigerians or Arabs or heaven forbid Mexicans or something!
BTW - Daves comment about the culls is awesome.......though they might give the choice of going to Calgary, or North Texas!
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ReplyDeleteActually, as I understand it, biting the testes off of lambs when doing the annual taildocking and shearing was and may still be standard operating procedure in Australia.
ReplyDeleteScroll about two thirds of the way down in this Aussie memoir for an explanation.
http://stott.customer.netspace.net.au/wesley.htm