Sheep Shearing

  I was lucky enough to watch a crew of sheep shearers in action the other day.  Having not a clue, I visited the pens, across  highway 75 from Smiley Creek Lodge, on the headwaters of the Salmon River.
  The crew is mobile, heading out to locations across the Northwest to shear sheep for the ranchers.

 Some shear, some count and brand, and others gather the wool to sort it and bale it for transport.

 And it's dirty,demanding, and , physical work. 

Paid by the sheep, they can make some decent money for a day.
Then home for bit and off to the next job.

   Click on any photo to go to the Flickr gallery of large, better looking photos.

  (The flock of sheep here were supposed to be in The trailing of the sheep festival in Ketchum tomorrow, but it looks like it will be staged by a different flock.)