Today my sheep were actively converting first-succesional forest back into grassland. The edge of one of the fields was starting to grow in with a thick stand of (I think) quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), and I’ve been meaning to let the sheep have their way with it all season; I finally got the grazing sequence to align with that patch today.
![Sheep eating alder-0152](https://travelswithmusti.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sheep-eating-alder-0152.jpg)
The sheep were as enthusiastic about the aspen leaves as I’d hoped.
![Sheep eating alder-0157](https://travelswithmusti.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sheep-eating-alder-0157.jpg)
![Sheep eating alder-0168](https://travelswithmusti.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sheep-eating-alder-0168.jpg)
By this afternoon, they had mostly denuded the saplings. I’m hoping another couple of passes like this and the encroaching forest will rethink its advance on the pasture.
![Sheep eating alder-0184](https://travelswithmusti.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sheep-eating-alder-0184.jpg)
Tagged: browsing, forest, grazing, pasture, Populus tremuloides, quaking aspen, saplings, sheep, succession