Pure_Evil
10-22-2003, 04:15 PM
Offbeat News
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003
Is Your Sheep Stressed? Just Ask It *
*
*
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stressed-out sheep bleat out their
anguish, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
They found that, like humans, sheep communicate stress by
changing the timbre of their voices.
Mark Feinstein of Hampshire College in Amherst,
Massachusetts, said his findings could help farmers and, of
course, the sheep they herd.
An expert in bioacoustics, Feinstein did his work at
Teagasc, an Irish government agricultural research
organization.
He isolated sheep and separated lambs from their mothers as
part of his experiments -- then recorded their bleats.
His recordings suggest that sheep express stress by
altering the timbre of their vocalizations, or the overall
quality of sounds, rather than by changing pitch or loudness.
Stress can be measured by taking an animal's blood, but it
would be much easier, cheaper and, yes, less stressful to
simply listen, Feinstein said.
:devil: :w00t: :shifty:
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003
Is Your Sheep Stressed? Just Ask It *
*
*
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stressed-out sheep bleat out their
anguish, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
They found that, like humans, sheep communicate stress by
changing the timbre of their voices.
Mark Feinstein of Hampshire College in Amherst,
Massachusetts, said his findings could help farmers and, of
course, the sheep they herd.
An expert in bioacoustics, Feinstein did his work at
Teagasc, an Irish government agricultural research
organization.
He isolated sheep and separated lambs from their mothers as
part of his experiments -- then recorded their bleats.
His recordings suggest that sheep express stress by
altering the timbre of their vocalizations, or the overall
quality of sounds, rather than by changing pitch or loudness.
Stress can be measured by taking an animal's blood, but it
would be much easier, cheaper and, yes, less stressful to
simply listen, Feinstein said.
:devil: :w00t: :shifty: