Behold the Barbary sheep
Who hang out on slopes oh, so steep.
They don't do much harm
On a game farm,
And compared to a big horn, they're cheap.
Synopsis: I'm a Family Practitioner from Sioux City, Iowa. In 2010 I danced back from the brink of burnout, and, honoring a 1-year non-compete clause, traveled and worked in out-of-the-way places in Alaska, Nebraska, Iowa, and New Zealand. After 3 Community Health years, I took temporary gigs in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Canada, and Alaska. Since the pandemic, I did telemedicine, staffed a COVID-19 clinic in Iowa, worked at the Veterans Administration in South Dakota, held part-time positions close to home, worked 10 weeks in western Pennsylvania, had a 5-month assignment in Northern Iowa, then several months of telemedicine. I am now in Texas, a big place with a lot of Spanish speakers.
Barbary sheep (also called aoudad and udad) are endangered in their native range in Africa. But in 1956, New Mexico Game and Fish introduced 12 into the Canadian River drainage, in an effort to give sheep hunting opportunities to those who couldn't afford a big horn sheep hunt.
In the 30 subsequent years the animals spread to Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Texas. When we arrived in New Mexico 1982 the Department limited hunters to 1 per year, with a 4-month season. Before we departed in 1985 the limit doubled, the season tripled, and the population quadrupled. Smarter than most New Mexico hunters, breeding without regard to season, and able to survive indefinitely without drinking water, they became targets of opportunity for deer hunters, because so few could outsmart them.
Only by hunting 1 square mile for 3 years could I bring one into my sights.
By then most of my nimrod colleagues knew that chili constituted the only palatable end for the meat, no matter how great the horns looked on the wall.
Imagine my surprise when Bethany and I saw a herd of about 100 on our way to breakfast this morning, at a local game farm, behind an 8-foot fence. She had never seen one in the wild, and she listened politely while I indulged my pedantry by regurgitating aoudad facts.
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Prickly pear cactus (Spanish nopal), with connecting lobes of leaves, remain an icon of the Southwest, and a staple of Mexican-American cooking. While I have eaten lots of prickly pear fruit, I hadn't eaten the leaves until today. I ordered the nopalito breakfast: cactus leaves cut into julienne strips, fried with onions, tomatoes, and eggs, and served with tortillas and refried beans. Bethany ordered the chilaquiles: corn tortillas with chili and cheese and a side of chicken sauteed with onions. Halfway through we switched platters, both of us more content with the trade.
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Of my 9 morning patients, 4 broke into tears less than 2 minutes into the visit. All I did was introduce myself, say, "How can I help?" and listen. Which also means not interrupting. A 5th patient didn't cry until after I'd said, "Tell me more," then asked, "What else?" and rehashed what had already been said, proving that I had listened.
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