Sheep

Sheep are presented as living animals, a farmer’s livelihood, and the unwitting center of a public prank. The flock’s ordinary grazing makes the orange sheep striking, but the consequences extend beyond its appearance: the animal’s eyes run after exposure to poisonous spray, and open gates leave sheep wandering where they could cause a road accident. The episode contrasts the sheep’s presence in the landscape with the human meanings imposed on them—economic, comic, and journalistic.

Flocks, Farmers, and Public Perception

A newspaper article read by Gunilla Mørk challenges the familiar image of the Norwegian sheep farmer as someone whose love for his animals is expressed through grief. The professor quoted in the article argues that public displays of devastation after a bear attack are really about financial losses and efforts to secure greater state subsidies. The claim makes sheep legible as economic assets within a debate over farming and public opinion; it does not establish what any particular farmer feels.

The article names Sverre Skarning, who says he loves all his sheep, including the black ones. Gunilla studies the accompanying photograph of a man close to a sheep and finds herself unable to decide what to think about the dispute. She suspects farmers probably are fond of their animals, and the image puts her in a good mood. Her response leaves the article’s opposition unresolved: a financial interest and affection for animals need not be treated as mutually exclusive, but the photograph cannot settle the argument.

The Orange Sheep at Snellevann

The altered sheep is first noticed from a vantage point above Snellevann. Looking through binoculars at a hillside flock, eight-year-old Theo Bosch sees one animal that looks different. His father, Hannes Bosch, initially doubts the description, then takes the binoculars and confirms that one orange-coloured sheep stands among the white ones. It moves around apparently comfortably, its conspicuous colour setting it apart while the other sheep continue eating as if nothing had changed.

The sight holds Hannes’s attention. He and Theo pass the binoculars back and forth, scrutinizing the animal; Theo becomes so excited that he jumps from the rock and waves his arms, prompting Hannes to warn him to be careful with the expensive equipment. Hannes recognizes the colour as spray paint and speculates that a sheep tagger may be responsible. He also wonders whether it is the bright marking paint used by the Highway Department. His question remains speculation, not an identification of the substance or the person who applied it.

Hannes telephones a newspaper reporter and describes the hillside flock, estimated at about fifty animals. He says it could belong to Sverre Skarning and points out that one ewe has a yellow-and-blue tag. He suggests contacting the farmer, bringing shears, and photographing the sheep before its wool is trimmed close to the skin. The planned photograph and his joking proposed headline turn the animal’s appearance into a potential newspaper story, while the proposed shearing acknowledges that the paint cannot simply be left on the fleece.

Injury and Practical Consequences

When Konrad Sejer and Jacob Skarre visit Skarning, he reports that the affected sheep is in the barn and that the spray contained chemicals he describes as poisonous. Its eyes are running. Skarning has kept the wool in a plastic bag so it can be sent to a laboratory for analysis; the investigation therefore treats the fleece not only as something to remove, but also as material that may help identify what was used. The sheep is later seen completely shorn, though its tail and ears remain orange. The animal is uneasy at the laughter in the barn, while Skarning enters its stall, examines the colour on his fingers, pats its rump, and closes the gate behind him.

The damage is not limited to the painted animal. Skarning says the prankster left all the gates open, allowing sheep to wander about. He and a neighbour had to use a trailer to gather them, and he stresses the danger of sheep on the road and the possibility of accidents. The incident thus has two distinct consequences: direct chemical exposure to one sheep and a broader hazard created by the flock’s escape. The latter makes the act consequential even where the animals are not individually described as injured.

Animals and Human Uses

The orange sheep’s visibility drives the episode: Theo notices it, Hannes verifies it, a reporter is contacted, and investigators later examine the animal and its wool. Yet the flock does not become a chorus of human-like reactions. The other sheep are observed continuing to eat, and the orange animal moves about without apparent awareness of its peculiarity; these are outward observations, not access to the animals’ thoughts. Its altered coat makes it a spectacle to people, while its running eyes and the need to shear it disclose the bodily cost behind the comic appearance.

The episode places several human uses of sheep beside one another. The newspaper article treats them as part of an argument about farmers’ finances and public sympathy; Hannes and Theo first encounter the orange animal as an astonishing sight; the reporter sees a possible story; and the investigators receive the saved fleece as evidence for laboratory analysis. Skarning’s response combines practical concern—with the opened gates and irritated animal—with an ability to joke about its appearance. The sheep remain animals in their own right, but the narrative shows how quickly people make them bear meanings that belong to human disputes, amusement, and inquiry.