Happy sheep

If you somehow manage to avoid them, you can enter a souvenir shop and buy some postcards picturing sheep enjoying beautiful views of the fjords on the western coast of Norway.

And please feel free to guess what the hair on the heads of many Norwegian souvenir trolls are made of.

Boundless sheep

Sheep grazing in outlying fields have free access to whatever they want to eat. That makes the Norwegian sheep happy.

“When you’re taking the sheep to their summer grazing land in the mountains you can hear the happy sounds from the herd. You can tell from how they’re acting that they remember from year to year”, Våg says.

Grazing without fences allows the sheep to act more in tune with their instincts, and they naturally divide into smaller groups with individuals closely related to one another.

If you occasionally encounter sheep far into the wild, you normally don’t need to worry: “Sheep recognises where they are, and they know where they are going” Våg says.

The green caretakers

Whilst out grazing, it occasionally happens that sheep get ill, get stuck or lost - or that they encounter predators. They are, however, not completely left to themselves.

“It’s statutory to check on flock at least once a week during the whole summer. Therefore, it’s not only the tourists who can enjoy the sight of sheep grazing in the nature. I feel privileged that I can take my family with me into the mountains to look after the animals as a part of my regular work”, Våg says.

Another factor is that grazing sheep are preventing the landscape from overgrowing and maintains the biodiversity in the Norwegian nature. According to Våg, almost 300 endangered species are dependent on the Norwegian cultural landscape.

“It’s not overgrown nature the tourists come to see”, says the farmer.

Special sheep

In the fall you can often see rivers of sheep flowing down the mountainsides.

By checking the Norwegian Trekking Association’s website, you can find out when and where you can join the farmers as they’re bringing the herd back from the mountains.

“It’s always a great pleasure to get your animals back when the summer is over, and to see that the lambs have had a good time and gained weight. I’m proud of making a product by using a renewable resource like the outlying fields”, Våg says.

“When you’re a sheep farmer it improves your quality of life to see animals grow and thrive in the outdoors”, she adds.

Våg has no doubts that the sheep are happy to see the farmer and the barn again in the autumn as well.

“It depends on the size of the flock, but you do get a special connection to some of them”, she says.