How I Got Bullied by a Sheep on the TMB

Picturing animal encounters on trail, many scenarios come to mind. Usually the scary ones first. A venomous snake seeking cuddles while one is cowboy camping. The bear momma around the corner getting startled. Getting run over by a randy boar. Our minds just work like that. We are constantly on the lookout for danger. Albeit one often fueled by movies and our imagination rather than reality. Have you ever seen a scary movie about a tick? Me neither. But that doesn’t mean they are harmless.

Of course as prudent hikers we do evaluate actual risks before heading out. The likelihood of something happening and the consequences of it happening. And one of such considerations is possible animal encounters on trail. On my recent thru hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc I prepared for insect stings which helped me tremendously when I suffered an allergic reaction to one which had me swell up like a baloon because I did carry Antihistamines.

What neither my primitive monkey fear brain nor my conscious preparation mind could anticipate however, was getting into a feud with this one seemingly harmless animal. A sheep. Here's what happened.

Delicious dinner with a view at “La Fré Mi”

Climbing the road out of Les Houches at the official start point of the TMB I got dehydrated and had to take a nap in the shade after flirting with heat exhaustion. Temperatures were around 95° Fahrenheit or 35° Celsius. The sun was blazing in the sky and making me sweat. There was almost no shade to be had, either. Once I had recovered enough to continue the climb I came across a small restaurant called "La Fré Mi". The owner had been driving up and down the steep road on an ATV and had seen me laying in the shade of a tree. I had given him the 'I don't need help but thanks' nod and he now seemed happy to see me making it up to his place. And what a view I got to enjoy, a breathtaking panorama of the valley of Chamonix, with its quaint villages and majestic mountains. I began the task of rehydration and sipped on both a delicious berry smoothie and a Coke - besides all the water. I had a friendly talk with said owner, one thing led to another and he offered me to pitch my tent in his backyard for the night. A kind exception but they might allow it in the future.

Their speedy but range limited Wifi had me sitting on the restaurant's terrace way past their closure. I was all by myself at this point and focused on my mobile phone while not really paying attention to my surroundings. I soon noticed seven sheep walking up to the deck, grazing on the grass in front. That made for a pretty scenery, the valley in the background and the sun slowly setting. Naturally, I took the opportunity to take a few pictures. I would like to think I was acting my best and I definitely kept my distance from the sheep while being quiet as to not disturb them. "Thanks", I even remarked once I was done with it because talking to animals while solo hiking is perfectly normal after all.

Just an innocent picture.

As I was admiring the peaceful scene, something caught my attention. The sheep closest to me lifted its head and looked at me. And never eased its staring. Its focus on me seemed surprisingly intense. A bit amused by this, I slowly backed off onto the restaurant's deck and back to my drinks and smartphone leaving the sheep to their own business.

This sheep had other ideas however and it followed me to the edge of the deck.

Still staring me down with its creepy sheep eyes.

I tried to soothe the sheep with some gentle cooing that would work on my dog - but it was having none of it.

This continued for a few minutes until it suddenly placed its front legs up on the deck. Simultaneously mustering my reaction.

I took another picture which it must have interpreted as continued offense because it jumped all the way on the deck! It was now just a few steps away from me. My stomach started to get a bit of an uneasy feeling about this ridiculous situation. I grabbed the chair next to me and put it between me and the sheep, as a precautionary measure. "What is its end goal here?", I wondered. "And how do I get it to leave me alone!".

It slowly inched towards me. Step by step. Its hooves making the tiniest noise.

At this point I decided to take action, I stomped the deck to scare it off.

It worked. However the sheep didn't head back to its herd. In what I can only describe as an angry fit, it walked over to the other side of the deck. And then it did something that I never expected. It went over to a pot of red flowers. It gave me another look. Then it started munching on them aggressively!

The thing is, the sheep herd and the flower pot aren't separated in any way. There is no fence. The sheep could have had a go at it a long time ago. But the plants looked pretty healthy and untouched. This was clearly a power move.

Poor plants, they had no stake in this.

To protect my new friend the restaurant owner's garden I intervened after a short while. Maybe my ego was also sparked a tiny bit by the sheep's flagrant and unwarranted attempt at domination. I am definitely not above this. So I got up, stomped on the wooden deck once more and the sheep immediately jumped off and backed away.

Soon after I forgot about the curious encounter and obeyed hiker midnight by heading to my tent. Since it was so hot still even at this elevation I was struggling with falling asleep. Swaths of hot air from the valley were creeping up the mountainside and still overpowering what cool the glacier above provided. My three season down quilt was just too warm. But it was not quite hot enough to go completely without. I wrangled with this for a while, trying to get comfortable and only slowly started to tire. It had been a solid day after all so eventually my eyelids started to feel heavy. My mind dozed off. This is when I got startled by noise.

No complaints about the view that night.

"Someone or something is outside!" Still in a sleepy slumber I panicked and was wide awake within a second. Something was running straight towards my tent! No doubt. I tensed up, ready for an impact and fight. I listened intensely to the noise trying to discern its origins. It was...hooves! And from something much smaller than a horse or a cow. "The sheep! It's back!" I realized in disbelief. It had stopped short of running into my tent, bluff charging it apparently. This all happened within seconds. My fear somewhat lessened. Now I was in a state of both worry for my shiny new tent and utter disbelief about this darn sheep! How ridiculous of an animal encounter! I held my breath to try make out where it had gone but couldn't hear anything. It was hard as my heart was still pumping with adrenaline from being awoken in terror. I slowly and quietly opened my tent zippers to get some visuals. Had I not used both trekking poles to pitch my tent, I would have had one in hand ready for a spit roast. I looked around but couldn't make out anything. Then I turned on my trusty head lamp in turbo mode and gave it a 360 degrees. Nothing. As quick as it turned up it had gone away again.

Needless to say, it took me a good while to fall back asleep after this stunt. And while I will never have definitive proof that it was this one sheep I know with every fiber of my being that it was. After some reflection I don't think there is a particular lesson to be learned here. But it is definitely advisable to not get into a feud with livestock, even if unwarranted! The trail provides and apparently I was in need for some action. Needless to say I did avoid counting sheep to fall back asleep.

Disclaimer: This blog may contain affiliate links. At zero cost to you, clicking one of these links may result in a small commission for me. Your support means the world!