While on holiday in France, Eleanor Scholz and her boyfriend went for a hike. As she strolled along the path, she heard the noise of a heard of sheep approaching, which didn’t seem out of the ordinary at first. Nevertheless, she stumbled upon something astonishing: the sheep were seemingly trailing a woman who was out for a run.
“It took me a moment to understand what I was just seeing,” Eleanor told The Dodo. “At first, I thought maybe she was a shepherd, but she wasn’t dressed like any shepherd I’d ever seen, and it seemed unusual that a shepherd would be running.”
During their conversation, the jogger informed Eleanor about the situation. It appeared that the sheep had strayed from their path and upon spotting her jogging, they just picked her as their guide. Interestingly, the sheep appeared quite unfazed by the interruption on the trail, and a few of them even approached Scholz to greet her.
“They all just stopped and waited, it was the funniest thing,” the woman said. “Some of them immediately walked over to me, and I was worried they’d start following me instead, but they stood there patiently while she and I talked. They didn’t seem stressed or particularly winded.”
The sheep exhibited great composure while the runner recounted the incident to Scholz. When the runner resumed her jog, the sheep followed suit without delay.
“They immediately ran after her,” Eleanor said. “The few sheep who had been checking me out as a possible new shepherd changed their minds when they saw their friends start to leave — ultimately the whole flock stuck together and followed the runner off down the trail.”
The runner had intended to guide the sheep towards an area with pastures, in hopes of returning them to their original location. She remained clueless about how they had strayed and why they had chosen to follow her. Nevertheless, after they started trailing her, she made it her mission to assist them.
“The runner appeared to have accepted her new responsibility as a shepherdess, and I could sense her determination to find a secure location for them,” the woman said. “Although I would have loved to learn the full account, my glimpse of her unconventional encounter with the sheep was brief, and I am content to have had the opportunity to witness it.”
