My new BFF (Best Friend Forever)

This is Bill, my new Best Friend Forever. To cut a long story short, he was stranded in our neighbours' field, two fields separated from his own field and his mother. He lay down on some straw for a while but then tried getting back through the fence and couldn't and he was bleating. So, Hagos and I tried to get in touch with the farmer and couldn't. The only option left was to gather him up and repatriate him ourselves.


Our first attempt resulted in him running towards the road, so we enlisted the help of our friends Iain and Robin and looked everywhere. We had just given up and were heading home when we heard a little bleating and turned to see him hiding behind a tree. So we chased him back into the field and shut the gate, then me, Hagos and Iain shepherded him (me with a blanket - which was a great tip, James, and became a crucial part of the rescue) and while he was trying to jump through a five inch square gap in the fence I threw the blanket over him, bundled him up and then we climbed three fences and finally got him back into his own field. He was much bigger than I expected him to be, close up, but I completely fell in love with him while I was carrying him.

So I went looking for him again today, to check he wasn't wandering alone somewhere he shouldn't and at first I thought this must be him back with his mum, because he had a sweet little black face and black legs, though I thought this lamb looked lighter in the body than I remembered.

It was only when I was almost home I saw a lamb by itself in the middle field, realised it was Bill and understood how he'd got through to the neighbours'  field in the first place.

So, he seemed happy enough, and so long as he remembered his route back he still had direct access to the rest of the sheep if he wanted it. I got the impression he was a bit of an intrepid explorer though, and liked to be by himself.


Hagos thought he looked like William Shatner, hence the name. Isn't he gorgeous? I'll probably go and check on him again tomorrow.