In which sheep can swim

So I think an update is necessary. I dont think it was mentioned in my last blog but my pony Apples has been very sick. She has laminitis which is an illness which affects her hooves causing them to fall apart from the inside. It is extremly painfull and while she appears to be over the worst of it, it is now a question of how much damage was done and if she can recover. Also just to get all the sad news out of the way, my two geese Lucy and Xander were taken by foxes a few nights after we moved them into a new bigger enclosure.

On the plus side, Otis is now back living at home and I have two guinea pigs. Their names are Ronan and Toby. A few years ago when the family and I went to Perth we went to the zoo. In their avaries they had a sign talking about why the keep guinea pigs in the cages with the birds. The idea was that the guinea pigs held a territory which kept out the mice and rats. We are hoping this same theory works in our chicken coop. The mice have done so much tunnelling under the coop that it is sinking. So Toby and Ronan have a little hutch to sleep in at night but during the day they have the run of our chicken coop and yard. This makes for two very happy guinea pigs.

Now for the latest update. For the past month or so my two sheep Wally and Gromit have been going feral in the back paddock. They are supposed to come in each night to be safe from stray dogs and have pellets to eat. Lately however, there is so much grass they havnt wanted to come in. Last night one of my friends came over to visit. It was just getting dark when we decided to go for a walk in the back paddock because her two boys wanted to find the sheep. She had also brought her two border collies with her and as we entered the paddock they took off. We called them for a while but they didnt come so we headed down to the dam. As I went around the corner one of the dogs came running up. I then spotted the other swimming in the dam and she came out when I called. I also noticed another head in the water. I thought at first it was a kangaroo (the kangaroos in our area being well known for drowning dogs) but then I thought it was too pale to be a kangaroo and thought maybe Anya had got out and was going for an evening swim.

As I got closer I realised that it was one of my sheep. I was amazed at how well he could swim but also got worried that there was only one sheep and thought the other must have drowned. By the time I reached the dam. Wally had reached a section where he could stand but he still would not get out. I climbed into the dam upto just over my knees to reach him and push him out. Then began my struggle to pull, poke and bully him up the hill. As I neared the top Gromit came out of the trees completely unharmed. With the help of dad on the quad bike we managed to get the two of them out of the paddock and safely into their pen.

As usual all the bad things happen to Wally which is unlucky for him but good for us as Gromit is completely untame and things would have been much harder. I went down to check on them this morning and they both seem fine as they tucked into their pellety breakfast.