Sheep in the rain

[Hopkirk]

If I stood outside in the rain, wearing a thick woolly jumper, I would end up thoroughly miserable.

The jumper would be heavy, sodden and useless.

How do sheep get by?

[sandyRoe]

the wool is covered with lanolin, I think. The rainwater runs off..

[cupid04]

YEh, why don't they shrink?

[mike11111]

They wait for a Welshman to give them a good rub down.

[JonnyBoy12]

It is very simple how they stop their coats getting wet; they 'lambinate' their wool!

[DTCwordfan]

Sandy has it spot on........lanolin - also found in some soaps.

Though I do shrink with rain - or is that age creeping on?

Or the wine?

[tenrec]

Merino wool jumpers are totally the opposite. They can hold water but your body feels dry and warm.

[woofgang]

I know this one. Sheeps' wool is full of lanolin which waterproofs the wool. You can get oiled wool jumpers which are knitted from wool that has not had the lanolin removed and they are waterproof although water does get through the gaps like it does on a real sheep

http://www.bosunslock...ey-Jumper--Navy-.html

[Hopkirk]

I still wouldn't be a sheep.

They don't look very happy.

[Hopkirk]

Thanks but no thanks.I have no desire to stand in a field in the rain.

I'll stay inside, in the warm and dry.

[Toureman]

To the untrained eye, a sheep might look like a big, dumb heap of wool standing around in the rain. What you might not know is that the wool on a sheep's back is actually a sophisticated web of fibers that may well be the most versatile and useful animal product on Earth, outside of perhaps leather. That same s­heep milling about a field in the cold wetness is actually keeping pretty dry and warm underneath, thanks to the amazing characteristics of its "sweater."

When the sheep is shorn and the wool made into a sweater it goes through a lot of processes that destroy the rain proofing that the sheep enjoys.

[weecalf]

Actually the wool on asheep is very cold .we used to have help a farmer to put sheep in when they were lambing in the winter .Trying to catch them and direct them towards the pen was freezing on the .

[woofgang]

It's like the new forest ponies. On cold winters days, they actually have frost and ice on their backs because their insulation is so good.

[heathfield]

And wool garments can absorb 35% weight of water and still keep you warm. Synthetics, cotton, and linen, can't do that.