Champion sheep-shearer Dwayne Black cut a record-smashing performance when he sheared 3.5kg of fleece in 45.41 seconds, breaking an almost 50-year stranglehold New Zealand had on the record.    Dwayne earned his title on the set of Australia's Guinness World Records show on 17 April 2005.

Courtesy of Channel 7 website - April 2005
and Guinness World Records      http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=48732

Shrek the sheep faces his shearers Courtesy  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3639315.stm Monday, 19 April, 2004

Shrek managed to escape the scissors for six years running A sheep in New Zealand has become something of a celebrity after dodging the shearers for six years. The 10-year-old merino sheep, nicknamed Shrek, is thought to have avoided his annual haircut by hiding in rock caves. But his luck came to an end when he was spotted by Ann Scanlan, at Bendigo hill station on South Island. She tried to sneak up on the animal, but despite carrying a fleece weighing nearly 27kg he managed to escape. "Next thing Ann came screaming down the ridge [saying] 'I've just seen this thing'," said hill station owner John Perriam. "I sort of thought she'd lost her marbles really." Another man, Daniel Devine, finally managed to capture the elusive animal. Shearers estimate that Shrek's coat is so large it could provide enough merino wool to make more than 20 large suits

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Rogue sheep outwit road grid

Courtesy of ABC News Online   30 Jul 2004

Their reputation as innovators and adventurers is thus far slim, but it appears some sheep may be smarter than you might first think.

According to astonished eyewitnesses, a particularly adventurous flock in northern England has found a way to get past supposedly hoof-proof metal grids installed across roads - executing a neat commando-style roll over the top.

Determined to get access to the rich grazing of local gardens in Marsden, a town in the hilly Pennine region, local sheep have worked out how to get past the barriers, the Guardian newspaper reported.

"I've seen them doing it and they're clever," said an impressed Dorothy Lindley, a local councillor.

"They lie down on their side, or sometimes on their back, and roll over the metal grids until they are clear."

At times also hurdling 1.50-metre fences or squeezing through tiny gaps, the enterprising flock has laid waste to a series of gardens, as well as flowers in the graveyard, the newspaper reported.

"It's a serious problem because they make a mess of people's gardens," Ms Lindley told the paper, saying that she sometimes barked at rogue sheep like a dog in an attempt to scare them off.

The grids were installed 10 years ago after one irate gardener rounded up a series of stray sheep and held them hostage, demanding action, the report said.

However, now new measures seemed necessary, as more and more sheep - this time fitting to species stereotype - copied the roll manoeuvre.

"What we really need is more fencing to stop them, but they would probably find another way out before long," Ms Lindley complained.

-- AFP