382 Social Behaviour of Hill Sheep; More to it than Meets the Eye A.B. LAWRENCE and D.G.M. WOOD-GUSH Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh ( Gt. Britain) ABSTRACT Littleis known in detailof the socialbehaviour of domestic sheep livingin semi-natural environments, other than ifmanagement allows, ewes will form socialgroups that share the use of a common area (Hunter, 1964). This paper describes the seasonal variation in the socialbehaviour of such a home-range group of hillsheep, relatingit to ecologicalchange with some discussion of the management implications. The following data were collectedfrom observations of a group of hillsheep occupying a range in the Pentland Hills,Scotland: (a) the locationsand activities of individualgroup members; (b) the size and membership of sub-groups (discretesub-divisions of the greater group); (c) social interactionsbetween group members. Sheep are often regarded as the archetypal socialanimal, flocking in response to even minor disturbances.The present study found that during winter, hill sheep do indeed appear to be highly social,existingin largesub-groups and being influenced in their movements by other group members. The increase in sociability in winter correlatedwith a general decrease in the heterogeneity of quality of the hillswards, and worsening of the weather. At this time of year, the nutrition of hillsheep is supplemented with feedblocks containing molasses and urea.One consequence of the increased gregariousness in winter was that of increased competition at these feedblocks,resulting in largeindividual variation in intake of the feedblock. In summer, however, there was a marked decrease in gregariousness,with a considerable reduc- tion in sub-group sizeand markedly decreased frequencies of aUelomimetic walking and cohesive grazing movements. The decreased sociabilityin summer corresponded with the growth of dis- persed patches of hill grass, the preferred food at this time, and resulted in a large increase in the variability of home-range behaviour. Home-range sizes in summer varied by as much as 40 ha. The consequence of this considerable variability in ranging patterns on production parameters has yet to be measured. REFERENCE Hunter, R.F., 1964. Home range behaviour in hillsheep. In" D.J. Crisp (Editor), Grazing in Ter- restrial and Marine Environments. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 155-171.

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382

Social Behaviour of Hill Sheep; More to it than Meets the Eye

A.B. LAWRENCE and D.G.M. WOOD-GUSH

Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh ( Gt. Britain)

ABSTRACT

Little is known in detail of the social behaviour of domestic sheep living in semi-natural environments, other than if management allows, ewes will form social groups that share the use of a common area (Hunter, 1964). This paper describes the seasonal variation in the social behaviour of such a home-range group of hill sheep, relating it to ecological change with some discussion of the management implications.

The following data were collected from observations of a group of hill sheep occupying a range in the Pentland Hills, Scotland: (a) the locations and activities of individual group members; (b) the size and membership of sub-groups (discrete sub-divisions of the greater group); (c) social interactions between group members.

Sheep are often regarded as the archetypal social animal, flocking in response to even minor disturbances. The present study found that during winter, hill sheep do indeed appear to be highly social, existing in large sub-groups and being influenced in their movements by other group members. The increase in sociability in winter correlated with a general decrease in the heterogeneity of quality of the hill swards, and worsening of the weather. At this time of year, the nutrition of hill sheep is supplemented with feedblocks containing molasses and urea.One consequence of the increased gregariousness in winter was that of increased competition at these feedblocks, resulting in large individual variation in intake of the feedblock.

In summer, however, there was a marked decrease in gregariousness, with a considerable reduc- tion in sub-group size and markedly decreased frequencies of aUelomimetic walking and cohesive grazing movements. The decreased sociability in summer corresponded with the growth of dis- persed patches of hill grass, the preferred food at this time, and resulted in a large increase in the variability of home-range behaviour. Home-range sizes in summer varied by as much as 40 ha. The consequence of this considerable variability in ranging patterns on production parameters has yet to be measured.

REFERENCE

Hunter, R.F., 1964. Home range behaviour in hill sheep. In" D.J. Crisp (Editor), Grazing in Ter- restrial and Marine Environments. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 155-171.