A Tale of Two Lambs
By Mark Furniss
Just before Easter Jo and I were walking over the quiet fells to the west of Tebay. As we were descending into the 'other' Borrowdale, we saw a sheep laid on its side and kicking its legs erratically. Curiosity led us to have a nosy and we found the poor sheep had been injured by something and was bleeding out of its eye. Then Jo noticed a small nose and hoof at the back end. As Jo's sister is a midwife I thought this qualified Jo to do the necessary whilst I supervised:-
(M) "Jo grab hold and pull it out". ( J) "What are you sure?". (M) "Well, the sheep's not well enough to do it by itself". (J) "But what If I hurt it?". (M) "It will die if you don't" (J) "Can't you do it?" (M) "No its better if you do" (J) "Why?" (M) "Because the sheep would prefer a female midwife". (J) "Bo----ks !"
So Jo pulled and tugged and eventually delivered an easter lamb. I meanwhile had set off running 2 miles to the farm and when I returned with the farmer, Jo had delivered her second lamb and was rubbing them both with grass to keep them warm. We carried the now bleating lambs down to the farm track and waved them farewell. Jo's best goretex gloves and jacket were quite squelchy but it was worth it - I'm sure the boil wash will get them clean.
