Hog Island Sheep

Two hundred years ago, a flock of sheep was established on Hog Island, a barrier island off the eastern shore of Virginia. Hog Island sheep evolved into foragers with excellent reproductive ability and hardiness in a harsh environment. They vary in physical appearance: most are white, though about twenty percent are black. Newborn lambs are frequently spotted over the body, but the spots usually disappear as the lambs mature. Their faces and legs can be speckled brown, white, and black, or they can have black faces and legs. Ewes may be horned or polled, and rams may have horns or be somewhat polled, with only scurs on their heads in place of horns. There are fewer than 200 annual registrations in the United States, and the estimated global population is less than 2,000.

Accokeek, Maryland · United States