Escapees!

Livestock at the reserve are checked daily and last week the Dexter cows were there on Tuesday but nowhere to be seen on Wednesday! Then, they were spotted just on the other side of the fence. It is thought that loud firing on the training area had spooked them and in their panic they had fled the reserve. The owners were informed and a first attempt was made to entice them back with a sack of feed!

The cattle came close but refused to come back so were left overnight to calm down. However, the next morning they appeared to have vanished! Unbeknown to us they had gone into hiding in some nearby gorse bushes; believe it or not, in the photo below there are 4 farmers and two cows. Honest!

Eventually, they were spotted and this time with a bit of coaxing they were brought back to Foxglove.To prevent them from escaping again they were put on the wildflower meadow overnight. The only problem was that around twenty sheep followed them in through the gate! The following evening they were loaded into a trailer and taken back to Big Sheep Little Cow where they usually live.

Thank you to everyone who helped to find and catch them and to the farmers from Big Sheep Little Cow for kindly loaning them to us. They have done a fantastic job grazing on the wetland. Meanwhile, the sheep were behaving superbly on the heathland!

The small flock of six will be here for a few more weeks to help manage this habitat.