Flocking sheep

An old greek saying describes the situation when someone has to do a job which is completely unappropriate to their skills as 'They asked the wolf to flock the sheep.'

Well,this is what I did last Tuesday at Charlecote Park!!!

It was a change from flocking children (oh,dear,how blasphemous of mine!) and part of my shadowing the park warden, who is responsible for the old breed of Jacobean sheep in the park.

I proved to be very good as shepherd of the little rascals!

We had to lead them in a kind of a corridor,where a volunteer gave them a medicin.Sheep are like water:once you get the first one moving towards one direction,the others follow blindly.It was funny to see two or three sheep trying to squeeze into a space suitable for only one!Mind,they're not the smartest creatures!

Then we had to separate the ones with dirty bums (!!!)and get them to Howard,the warden,who gave them a shave.By the way,shaving is necessary in order to avoid having warms eating up their bums!Poor darlings!

Soooo,we had to catch them-and catching a sheep is a hard task.It's umbelievable how strong these alive cutlets are!The moment we grabbed them from their fleece,they struggled and managed to escape.Then,we had to grab them from their horns,ride them like a horse and walk them near the fence.Afterwards,we held them tight from their horns and squeezed their bellies against the fence,so that they couldn't get away.Does this sound cruel???Well,remeber that our aim was to get them clean and protect them against the worms...

I had a very good time,and seriously consider a career in flocking.Do I hear laughter???

I immortalised below a scene from my cooperation with the lovely sheep:

The three little pigs said:Aren't they supposed to check their employers' criminal record at the National Trust,before they start working and eliminating innocent livestock??