Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World by Victoria Finlay has a wonderful chapter on types of sheep and their fleeces, and an excellent (and funny) description of shearless sheep. Apparently in the summer the fleece would molt off, and if it did not a simple tug started the process. It also covers the Soay sheep, mentioned earlier.
young3r t1_iz16ab6 wrote
Reply to Did sheep fur always just endlessly grow or was that something that was selectively bred? Were they originally naturally adapted to be going through a lot of foliage and thickets and stuff that would keep their coat relatively trimmed? by EuroTraschBozos
Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World by Victoria Finlay has a wonderful chapter on types of sheep and their fleeces, and an excellent (and funny) description of shearless sheep. Apparently in the summer the fleece would molt off, and if it did not a simple tug started the process. It also covers the Soay sheep, mentioned earlier.