Myrtle is our bright little penny. She is an adorable, petite, agile, fireball who can lift the latch and open the gate between pens. She’s a good natured, friendly girl with a capacity for trouble-making that’s limitless. She was banned for months from the common area, which is open to a few sheep while we clean, because of compulsive bad behavior. Even now if we turn our backs for too long, she’ll nose off the cover to our galvanized grain barrel. In a twinkling, the other sheep jam themselves around it in a feeding frenzy, and she will scamper off to hide lest she be scolded. Despite being herself an agent of chaos, Myrtle demonstrates a need for routine and feels unsettled when the unfamiliar is introduced. For example, she experienced angst when the new lambs came – it took her a while to adjust and accept them. Now they are partners in crime.
Myrtle’s coloring is lovely: all moorit – the Shetland term for reddish brown. Her downy coat is what is called “kindly.” It always looks shorter than the others because it is so crimpy that it curls in on itself.
