The Portland daily press., 1896-11-23
THE MONHEGAN SHEEP.

Ahelr Owners Give Another Side to
the Story.
A"o Animals Are Used to the Gold and Do
Not Use Shelters When They Are Pro-
vided.
me Lincoln county grand jury at the
present. term of the court indicted a
number of the residents Of Monhegan ISL
ana on charge Of cruelty to sheep. To
thls indi ctment the parties pleaded nolo
contendere In court at Wisoasset last
Iuesday and no penalty WAS imposed,
the case being put over to the April
term. The actions were begun by she
society for She Protection of Animals.
Ths case has behind 1t an interesting
story. On the one hand is the CON-
plant shat there are a large mum Dor of
sheep without adequate food and shelter
on the island. On the other is the
story Of the sheep owners that this is
not true and that the complaints arise
from the objection of summer visitors
to the presence of the sheep and the
jealousy Of omssMonhegan people who
own none Of those wool bearing auimals.
Monnsgan. as everybody knows, is the
long island a number of miles out at sea
and which is reached by packet from
R0othbay Hnrbor. Monhegan has been
discovered by the summer tourist and Is
becoming popular resort. 1t may not
be so popular year or two hence for
some of the persons who own sheep ana
who attribute their troubles to some of
their summer guests threaten to fence
In their land. If this Is done, the
tourists will find themselves barred
out Of large part of the island over
which they have hitherto roamed at will.
sheep owners, told their side of the story
to the PRESS, Saturday. He said that
sheep have besen on the island for 200
years or more. AS matter of fact,
sheep have been raised on the island
practically as long as white men have
Society for the Protection of Animals,
took Its first action in reference to the
Sheep the owners of the. sheep were or
dered to erect a building as a shelter to
the animals but II. is claimed that ths
sheep owners were not allowed to select
ing. Against their wishes they were
made to put it up in part of the island
seldom visited by the sheep but they
did.so erect it and say now that If 1t has
NOS served its purpose it is not their
fault. for had they been permitted to
have been found and used by the ami
mails. These sheep are as wild as The
deer In the Maine woods and to under
take to force them into this building
would be useless. especially as the spruce
trees, with which the eastern end OF
kind Of shelter. The heavy branches
grow at q height of four or five feet
and at their outer ends bend down to
the ground, thus making natural shell
ter. Into these hooks, the sheep will
go, one tree serving to shelter 10 or 10.
= ~ A0Ooo&Oh AWodIoiAy 0A4SCby uRCu w mat
do the sheep feed during the winter
months? People who live on the island
say that they have taken hay and placed
1t where tine sheep could eat it If they
would but that the animals refuse to
touch it. They eat kelp for the salt 1t
contains. just how they live is not
known but little snow gathers on the
island aud it Is said that vhe sheep ap-
parently live well for they keep fat and
we'll. The statement that 100 skeletons
were found on the island the sheep own
ers say is fairy story. They intimate
that the bones of dead sheep, where they
are found at all, are the bones Of animals
which died violent death at the hands
of persons who do not own sheep but do
like mutton.
The statement that lambs born In Jan
uary. February and March are left to
care for themselves Is, the sheep owners
say, lie the history of the snakes in
those months. The rams are kept on
MannannR leland much of the year, be-
Ing taken there at q season viii oh makes
1T unlikely that any lam BIS should be
born In tito winter and early spring.
The statement that lambs are seen with
their feet frozen of, the owners say aris-
es from the fact that there Is one sheep
on the island which has lost foot. This
sheep gets about all right and seems
comfortable. Another charge recently
brought against the sheep owners Is that
There are sheep on the island l5 years
old The owners say that they did not
know 1T was an offense to let sheep grow
old and II it be such 1t is not good ar
gument in favor of the starvation th co.
ry. Another charge Is that the sheep
are not sheared. Now the sheep shearing
On Monhegan is an institution. The sheep
being so Wild 1t becomes necessary to
drive them into a corral for the shearing
ana some may escape but not many.
Some OF the owners say they are going
to sell their sheep to avoid future trou-
bile. One or two of them, however. who
own large part of the island, say they
are likely to fence their sheep in and
the summer visitors out and continue
in tho business.