2/21/2005: Fighting sheep

xoxoxoBruce, who is on fire finding images, finds this one which is just brilliant. It's the Chinese city of Huaibei holding an annual spring festival, and part of it is watching sheep fight.

A whole lot can be said about this one, I think. First of all, WHAT A GREAT SHOT. Not only did the photographer capture that exact moment of collision, s/he was able to frame the shot perfectly from a design POV. Notice how the people land about a third of the way down the shot, and the sheep collide at about the second third. Maybe the photographer got lucky and could crop for design, but just as likely s/he figured out where that shot was and found the right place to be to get it.

Even the colors express that design principle. Check it - the lower third is all tan, including the sheep; the middle is an array of different colors, and the colorless sky borders the top. The ratios are not exact thirds... that would be less intereesting to the eye.

And then there are the people, all staring intently, a sea of expressions. Happy? Interested? Bored? Excited?

Like cockfighting, is this people making animals fight for their own enjoyment? Or is it a natural process of nature in which there's no harm just watching? Are we, as IotD readers (and WaPo readers, since that's where xoB found it), also participating in this? Do we get a weird enjoyment from watching these animals fight? Would we rather not see it? Is it OK for us to enjoy the image even if it required some level of brutality to get it?

I dunno.

Somehow I don't think the 'fighting sheep' will ever make it as a sports team name.

I've always liked the 'fighting ScapeGoats' as a sports team name. Like on FunkyWinkerbean.

I love the expressions on the peoples faces.

And the eyeball of the righthand sheep.

My money would be on the left sheep.

The guy in the center with the cigarette definitely has money on this -- and he likes his odds.

This is normal behavior for sheep- well, rams. It's a dominance game, like the deer wrestling with their antlers. Most of the time, no one gets hurt. The odd thing is that this would usually take place in the breeding season- which is Fall, not Spring. Lambs are born in Spring, so the ewes have to be impregnated a few months earlier. I imagine humans can change that around though.

"Our old mascot was a gentle lamb named Leroy - more recently portrayed with the tough and hungry face of Clyde. In either case we are the ONLY Lambkins in the country, and we love it - even the ribbing we take. Wear your purple and gold often and with pride. "

Very nice! We were the "Maroons," and our mascot was a purple ball of fur with limbs named "Mr. Maroo." Oh yeah, and he wore a beanie.

I have always wondered how their brains...yes I mean the sheeps... can take
that impact over and over again..
I can't do that with a helmet on...

sheep may not be the most intelligent animals to begin with. a little drain bamage won't stop them from following the shepherd, eating grass - roots and all, mating etc...

Wow, that is a great picture, and what a great introduction, too, drawing the attention to all the details.

You know, those people on there are looking at a picture just as excellent as the one we see. The pale washed-out tone of the field and the sheep, and the multi-coloured crowd of onlookers, wearing a vast array of different expressions from indifferent to excited to amused. Those funny Westerners all tend to look the same, though .

I know the rooster fighting, bull fighting, cricket fighting.