綿羊六年不剪毛 羊毛半米厚
A Tasmanian farmer-couple recently discovered what might just be the world’s woolliest sheep. They’ve named the super-fluffy creature ‘Shaun’. As it turns out, Shaun has never had his coat cut, and it is at least half-a-meter thick now. In fact he appears to have been on the run ever since he escaped the shearers at his former farm on Tasmania’s east coast, at least 25 miles away. It is estimated that Shaun has been wandering across the island for the past six years!
一對塔斯馬尼亞的農民夫婦最近發現了可能是世界上最多羊毛的綿羊。他們把這頭毛茸茸的羊命名爲肖恩。肖恩從來沒有剪過毛，到現在已經有至少半米厚。實際上它是從之前位於25英里之外的塔斯馬尼亞東岸的農場剪毛工手裏逃出來的。在過去六年裏，肖恩一直在島上晃悠着！
Peter Hazel said that he and his wife Netty found Shaun wandering in scrubland on their property last Sunday. He was actually quite easy to catch, what with 20 kilograms of extra fleece weighing him down. His wool was just all over the place, even falling over his eyes and obstructing his vision. “He couldn’t see very well because of the wool over his face, so I snuck up behind him and grabbed him,” said Peter. “Then Netty and I went and got the ute and put him in the back and brought him into the yard.”“It is the heaviest sheep I’ve ever lifted,” said Netty. “I just couldn’t believe it, I just could not believe a sheep could have so much wool.”
彼得·黑茲爾說，他和妻子妮蒂上週日在自家的灌木叢中找到的肖恩。他們很容易就抓到了它，因爲重達20kg的羊毛無疑拖了它的後腿。它的毛長得雜亂無章，甚至落到了眼前阻擋視線。“因爲臉上的毛它不是很能看得清楚，所以我從背後悄悄過去抓住了它。”彼得說，“然後我們找了輛車把它帶回了農場。” 妮蒂說，“這真的是我抓過最重的羊了。這太不可思議了，我從來不知道一頭羊居然可以長這麼多毛。”
The couple told reporters that it was a miracle the six-year-old Merino ram survived in the wild for such a long time. Because of all that wool, he could have easily suffered a heat stroke or myiasis from fly larvae. “I thought it would be almost impossible for a sheep to go that long and have such good wool on him. It’s surprisingly good-quality wool.”
這對夫婦告訴記者，這頭六歲的美利奴羊能在荒野存活如此之久簡直是個奇蹟。因爲羊毛太重，它隨時可能因太熱而中風或者染上蠅蛆病。“一頭羊能活這麼久，還帶着這麼好的羊毛真的很不可思議。這些羊毛都是質量上乘的。”
Shaun is finally being clipped this week, and locals are excited to see if he can break the world record for fleece yield. The current record for most amount of fleece belongs to a New Zealand sheep called ‘Shrek’ – he produced a whopping 27 kilograms of wool in 2004. He had become so popular that he was actually put on a nationwide tour that included a meeting with the Prime Minister.
肖恩最終在這周被修剪了羊毛，當地人都很興奮想看看它到底有沒有打破羊毛產量的世界吉尼斯紀錄。目前的記錄持有者是新西蘭一頭叫做史萊克的羊，它在2004年產出了27kg的羊毛。自此它便一炮走紅，甚至還來了一趟全國巡演，還與總理進行了會面。
