Spring lambs

[vilakins]

And here's the icon I made from the picture in my last post.

I've been so busy this week, I've only just got round to uploading some photos from last weekend.

Our friends Frank and Monique who have come here from Holland to live and are renting a cottage on a farm not far north of Auckland, invited us to see 'the baby sheeps'. I grew up in small towns with lots of country friends and have fed many lambs and calves, but I can't resist young animals and a day in the country.

Monique rescued both lambs, the boy from starvation and the girl from a difficult birth, so by the rules of the farm, she now owns them. :-) She has worked with animals in zoos or amusement parks for years and she has a job at a rich bastard's private zoo not far from where they live, so she takes the babies to work with her each day.


Me holding the little boy
This little guy is about three weeks old but half the size of the one-week-old girl because it was a while before they find his mother had abandoned him. He was struggling to get away from me because he could see his bottle. :-)


Me feeding the boy
His tail is a bit blurry because it was whipping wildly in pleasure.


Judith, a Filipina visitor to the main farm, with the boy
She had never even seen a sheep before, let alone touched one. :-)


Monique cuddling 'her girl'
Monique rescued this lamb from a difficult birth and the mother refused her so she's bonded to Monique, who even takes her and the boy to the private zoo where she works each day so she can feed them several times a day. That's Frank in the background.


Monique and lamb again
It adores being cuddled like a cat; I don't know what Monique will do when it's a full-grown sheep. :-P

Comments

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

I am clearly losing my sanity. We're not even allowed a cat in this apartment, and I want a lamb.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They grow into very large animals. And you'd have to grow a lot of grass. :-P

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Lambs are such cuddly little things. It has always amazed me that these delightful creatures grow up into the morose evil looking bedraggled sheep that inhabit my mountains. The lowland ones are not much better. The look on the the girls face in the last picture is sheer bliss.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Isn't it? She so adores Monique.

Our sheep are extremely placid. It must be the breeds we have here.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

The Welsh mountain sheep have to be tough as they lived their entire lives outside on the mountains, which would make anyone morose and evil looking I suppose. Most of the time they were placid but you learned very quickly to avoid them when they had lambs, then they could be vicious. They are also more intelligent that the average sheep, having learned how to circumvent cattle grids.

[trixieleitz]

I love watching lambs whip their tails around while they suckle :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Our sheep live outside all the time too, and often on much bigger mountains in the snow in the South Island. It must be the breed.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Tiger cubs do it too. :-)

[trixieleitz]

And they're woolly!

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Baby lambs!

I much prefer them when I haven't had anything to do with their delivery.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I think the correct term here? - is 'aaaawwwwwwwww' :)

These could equal just about any of those on the Cuteness LJs, they are adorable. Judith looks to be half in love as well...

and the new icon is pretty too.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'd agree, but Monique didn't mind. :-) She's mainly worked with primates, sea lions and dolphins, and African animals like giraffes, but she's happy to have any involvement with any animals.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They were very cute. The one I was holding was smaller than he looks in the first photo; his head was just close to the camera. There were others on the farm just born that day and already pronking. So sweet!

[hafren.livejournal.com]

Those are just wonderful! You look very nice in that first one too: love the hair colour!

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Aww! Adorable baby animals! I want to pet them through the internet. Why does that technology not exist, doggone it? :)

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

How cute! I expect Monique's little girl will wind up like Mary's lamb and follow her everywhere.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I am a useless puddle on the floor, melted by the cuteness of lambs!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

OK, some tactile info: their wool is very springy but they have very soft fur on their heads. :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

She's going to keep her at the private zoo she works at (a huge spread which does have other sheep) so I'm sure she will! I've never seen a lamb so placid and cuddly.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Aren't they cute! Almost all baby animals are adorable and I just can't resist cuddling them.

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

I know! Clearly a bad idea. But ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh, the CUTE!!

[jecono.livejournal.com]

Awwww! The cute!
(Unfortunately they look so dumb when they're grown up...)

Thank you for the pictures! :)

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

'Awww...' is all that I can say! :-) It sounds like you all had a great time.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's auburn (my own) with red and blonde streaks to add interest. :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Adult sheep (this breed anyway) are indeed very slow and placid. Welsh black-faced sheep however look downright mean, and they are!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

We did! Most of it was sitting around talking and drinking beer and filling our faces with bread and cheeses. :-)

I was reading through your archives, obviously...

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

I don't know what Monique will do when it's a full-grown sheep. :-P

That very much reminds me of my friend Colette, who has apparently fallen in love with the feral sheep of Wales.

The fact that Wales *has* feral sheep is news to me, but anyways...

She adores the silly things, thinks they're much more interesting than regular domestic sheep (apparently they're braver) and honestly wants to see if she can import a few (or, failing that, raise a small flock of whatever sheep the breeder tells her is the most boisterous) when she and her hubby finally buy the big bit o'land they've been saving up for (It'll be pretty big, 'cos he wants to be able to land a small plane on it..)

Meanwhile, omgosh, that picture of Monique cuddling the lamb is just *adorable*

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

whatever sheep the breeder tells her is the most boisterous

I'm not sure my Welsh friend would agree. She uses the word 'vicious' and an English friend's mother was once attacked by aggressive sheep (!!!). I was stunned; they're placid and passive animals here unless you try to ride them (which I did as a small kid, ha!) so it must be the breed. I do love the look of those black-faced (and apparently black-hearted according to linda_joyce) Welsh sheep though. They remind me of Shawn in A Close Shave (Wallace and Gromit).

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Given that this same pal of mine owns (and trains daily) with a Rottweiller that could probably carry me, should it choose to, I think she has a different threshold for "scary" than most of us.

I love Shawn. My Brit family sent me a Shawn hot-water-bottle cover. It's lovely and soft and so v. cute - and the cats agreed. I might even get it back from them, one day...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Awwww. I want one!