As a shepherd of a flock of Jacob Sheep their health and safety are primary. Most of our sheep are used for breeding stock but unless one can sell the rams as future flock sires their purpose becomes a sustainable provision.
After the butcher is done with his process, he calls us straight away to pick up the hides. It is very important that the hides are kept cool and the process of fleshing any remaining meat begins promptly. The deterioration happens quickly and the loss of the beauty and quality of the hide are quite noticeable.
One of my more memorable days occurred when our butcher called for us to pick up some freshly butchered sheep hides. We loaded the dense box into the back of our pickup truck and unloaded them at our farm. We set up a fleshing table under the shade of our flowering Mimosa Tree. As we removed each hide they were wet and heavy from being saturated in blood. We laid them out with the fur side down and began the process of removing any remaining meat and fat with a skinning knife. After we have carefully completed this process, we began to generously salt the entire hide coating the outer edges liberally. The hides will then be drained for the next couple of days as the salt works on the tanning process. During the process the hide is kept on a slight angle and the liquid pools. Each time we drain the liquid, more salt is added in the same manner, until the hide is completely dried.
This process is a messy blood laden job. We carefully remove each bit of meat and fat with gentle accuracy so that we don’t produce any rips or tears in the hide. This would ruin the finished hide and make it impossible to be sold to any perspective customer.
As I was carefully fleshing one of the hides, our dogs began to bark aggressively and ran to the fence facing our neighbors house across the street. I paused to see a man walking around the side of their house and heading towards the back. Both of our neighbors were away from their home and I became alarmed at the intruder. Without any thought, I ventured into the street with knife in hand and blood spattered down my legs. In a firm voice I called out to him , "May I help you?" He stopped dead in his tracks and nervously sputtered in his speech as he answered, " No Ma'am!" I could see he was very anxious, as I further pushed and asked what he was doing. It was at this time that I noticed a plastic tag hanging from his shirt for identification. He sighted that he was with the Department of Agriculture and they were checking for some strain of pox that were effecting the fruit trees in our area. I explained, that we also had some fruit trees but he never seemed to venture our way. I later chuckled at the fright, I must have caused him by my appearance. Even in the quiet life of a watchful shepherd, the behind the scenes scenarios can produce some amusing stories that will last a life time.
