By the time you read this my rams will have completed their work and will be back grazing on their own until next autumn. Last week, as I was putting them back in the field opposite the farm it jogged my memory about an event which took place a couple of years back. I had a couple of eccentric friends who wanted to borrow my Jacob ram for their ewes. I’m not keen on lending my rams out so instead they brought their sheep to Yellingham. The day dawned and the sheep arrived and given there was only a few I decided to put them near to the house in a small paddock which has a beautiful pond. The ram was very happy when he realised his luck had changed and on seeing the ewes galloped off in hot pursuit. My friends, Helen and Daphne, stayed overnight as they had travelled all the way from the depths of Sussex, so in the morning we all sauntered down to the paddock to check them, and my dear ram was nowhere to be seen. Helen has always been highly strung and there were shrieks of dismay as they looked everywhere for him. The ewes were there so it was a mystery. There were cries of “he’s drowned in the pond”, which really couldn’t happen as sheep hate water at the best of times. After attempting to calm the hysterical ladies, I suggested that they should get on the road, and I would try and solve the problem.
It really was a mystery and after searching for him all over the farm, I too began to wander if in his excitement chasing the ewes around, he had slipped and fallen into the pond. The water would have made his fleece so heavy that he could well have sunk to the depths of the pond – surely not….an impossibility.
There was just one field left to check, which was pointless really as there were a handful of cull ewes in there grazing which didn’t go to the ram. As I approached the field, via the lane with my dog Todd in tow, he suddenly stopped and pricked his ears. My mind was elsewhere, racing, thinking that my ram had escaped and could be anywhere on the road to Payhembury or Feniton or Colestocks – just the
thought of it made me shudder. Todd’s reaction made me stop for a moment and he certainly knew something was going on. On approaching the field gate, I could see that my ewes were disturbed and running around the field. My immediate reaction was that someone’s dog was loose and chasing the sheep – a potential nightmare. I quickly ran to the gate and let Todd in. There certainly was a problem. The ewes were running, and I couldn’t see another dog. There were 6 ewes in there and on counting them all seemed fine, except there were 7! I couldn’t believe my eyes – there was my ram. Clearly none of his new arrivals were on heat, but one of the cull ewes obviously was and a ram can smell it a mile off. He must have been so determined to get to her he risked life and limb to negotiate 2 sets of fencing. As they say, where there is a will there is a way!
So, all was well, and I thought I should ring my friends and tell them the news. I called them and said quietly and in a forlorn voice that the ram had “surfaced”. There was more hysterics on the other end of the phone as they said they were right and that he had drowned. I wickedly let them rant and rave for a short well before telling them the whole story!
Janet
