There are some things Yukon police officers just don't learn in Mountie school.

Corralling trapped and terrified Dall sheep that wander into town definitely is one of the items missing from their regular curriculum.

But Pelly Crossing police officers, aided by community members, managed to do just that Wednesday, and the 36-kilogram (80-pound) male sheep was safely caught and released back in the wild, unharmed.

It all started Wednesday morning when the Pelly Crossing RCMP were called about a lone Dall sheep that had wandered into the village's campground.

Conservation officers were sent to check out the campground's newest visitor.

'They determined that it wasn't in any danger,' Cpl. Dave Wallace, detachment commander for the Pelly RCMP, said today. 'They figured if it was left alone it would make its way, as all wild animals do, to where it wants to go.'

The two conservation officers, dispatched from Mayo, thought the sheep may have been driven out of its group and was trying to cross the Pelly River in search of new territory. However, due to the river's high water, the sheep was unable to cross by itself.

Unfortunately, the sheep defied the conservation officers' expectations and wandered into the residential area of Pelly Crossing.

The 3 1/2-year-old sheep, with horns at about half-curl, wandered a kilometre into civilization, and attracted some 30 people to the spectacle by the time Wallace and his fellow officers were called at about 6:30 p.m.

'It was just pacing back and forth,' said Wallace. 'You could see it was very nervous. It was a scared sheep terrified. You did feel sorry for the thing.'

Curious onlookers were standing on the riverbank looking down at the sheep, while it looked back up at them and baaaa-ed.

'Unfortunately, there were a few dogs barking.'

The sheep jumped around a bit, and tried to headbutt several dogs that approached him, Wallace noted.

'He was using his wild instincts to get away.

'Wild animals should be treated with respect and not harassed,' Wallace said, noting they can be dangerous and shouldn't be approached.

Luckily, no one was hurt in yesterday's caper and the sheep didn't manage to strike any of the bystanders.

Officers tried to use their Taser, known colloquially as a stun gun, in the hopes of immobilizing the sheep long enough to get a rope on it.

But when the skittish Dall sheep was hit with the probes that shoot out of the Taser, it jumped, breaking the thin cables carrying the electric current.

Wallace had recalled when Faro RCMP's Cpl. Ken Alderson last summer successfully used his Taser on an irate cow moose trapped in a fenced backyard with her calf, which was too small to get over the fence. In that case, Alderson had Tasered the moose while other people grabbed the calf and dropped it over the fence.

'It worked well in Faro, just unfortunately this fellow was worked up a lot in a confined area, so he was able to break the contact,' Wallace said this morning.

When chased, the sheep would run a few more metres, then a few more.

'People would be crisscrossing the thing was very confused.'

In the end, they resorted to coyboying techniques corralling it with a group of about six people while one Pelly Crossing resident lassoed the sheep by holding out the loop of rope while the critter ran through it.

A couple of the Mounties climbed into the back of their RCMP truck with the tied-up sheep 'so it wouldn't get too worked up' for the 45-minute drive to a known sheep area.

'Just from being tied up, his muscles were a little sore, so we massaged him a little bit,' said Wallace. 'He got up and started eating he was quite content. Glad to be away from the commotion.'

Wallace, Const. Don McPhee and auxiliary Const. Darcy Marcotte watched their released sheep for about an hour to make sure he was OK.