The night of November 3, 1888, it was dark and had occasional flashes of lightning. Tens of thousands of folded sheep in the large breeding districts north, east, west, of Reading, England were frightened. The many jumped the hurdles and were scattered by the next morning.
Shepards had found the sheep panting as if they were terrified. They had found the sheep
A farmer who owned sheep in Wallingford and Twyford claimed that he found his own sheep in a frightened manner also. It seemed that the countryside north of the Thames was affected with a few exceptions.
On the night of December 4, 1893, it had occurred again. It had taken place in the northern and middle parts of Oxfordshire, extending into adjoining parts of the counties of Warwick, Gloucester, and Berks.
Sheep are timid and easily scared animals. It is unknown how who or what had scared thousands of sheep. The storm was not believed to have been the culprit for the first panic. It's also unlikely that a person or persons had caused the panic. None of the farmers could find an explanation for the panic. It was thought possible that the sheep were panicked by a minor earthquake that was covered by the storm.
Or possibly the sheep experienced their own version of Mass hysteria. When one group heard another in a frightened mood it may had terrified them also.
SOURCES:
https://www.nature.com/articles/106710a0
https://esoterx.com/2015/07/14/the-mysterious-oxfordshire-sheep-panic-of-1888/
No comments:
Post a Comment