Something really strange happened today. I looked out of the window and - it was (albeit briefly) sunny. I'm not making this up: it wasn't snowing, it wasn't raining and the sky was something other than grey for a whole series of minutes. Could it be that spring is finally here?
One sure fire way to know whether spring is here or not is whether there are lambs in the fields, and I have a reliable source (Countryfile's Adam - surely one of the hottest farmers ever) that this has indeed happened.
Cue gratuitous lamb photo
Lambs are a very Easter-y kind of animal, and given that my Easter break doesn't end for another nine days, and that I'm not even apologising for that, I figured I could probably spin out another Easter special Farmyard Friday. However, this fact isn't as cheerful as that little chap above would have you believe.
It's always struck me about baby animals that they're just so much more fun than adult animals. Watch calves or lambs or foals or chicks and they're so much more interesting watch than their adult counterparts. Even puppies and kittens gambol about a little more, although perhaps the complete domestication of dogs and cats means that they tend to live their whole lives in a strange suspension of ageing, a little like Louis Spence or Madonna. Farmyard animals seem to acquire a more mature standing much sooner in their lives and stop the skipping around that we see above. Sheep, in general, seem to have their feet much more firmly on the ground than lambs.
And this is likely for a very good reason. Becoming mature, even for humans, is less about getting bigger and having more freedom, and more about taking greater responsibility for yourself and others. Even with their flock-like mentality, sheep must know this, and so their not jumping around with all four feet off the ground is sensible. Because look what could happen if it mistimed its landing:
Yes, it all seem super-funny, until you realise that poor sheep here can't get back up from that position; they are unable to flip themselves back over. Even more worrying, they can actually die from being in that position too long as they were simply never designed to lie on their back. Their digestive system slows down and they fill with gas and ultimately suffocate to death.
Not so funny now, right?
However, you, yes, you can save a sheep's life. If you see a sheep lying on its back, it isn't just chilling. It needs help. With one quick flip over, they're all good again. So help a sheep brother out and flip them over.
Farmyard Friday Fact #8: A sheep will die if it lies on its back too long.
Another cute lamb pic to cheer everyone up after that depressing fact.
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