
Operation “Lambs in snow”
And the first lambs. Yes, lambs in the snow. Every farmer in the Dales will tell me that they are hardy enough, but I can’t help but feel cold when I look at them. We have this set up idea of lambs in spring, when the meadows are fresh green, but often lambs start coming in february.
Lambing season has officially started I guess.

It was a total surprise. I was admiring Nidderdale, the valley in between the base and the hills on the other side of the river Nidd.
I was looking if the side eared woollies were close to their pen, they were not.
So I drove on, and looked at the other side of the road for a second, and yup, there they were. And I saw one tiny lamb...
O my god! My heart made a little jump. Dropped the car to the side, and I knew I needed to keep an eye on my watch as lunch in the Strike Zone is only till two. It was 12.30 but I know from experience that when I see lambs, I forget track of time.

It’s a mixed herd, some Oxford Downs (the side eared ones) and mashams, with spotted face. It remains a mystery to me why farmers keep
cross breeding them, probably to get the best quality of both breeds. I think it’s a shame as each breed has its special ways and looks, and they should stay pure. Hmmm, I sound like certain bad figures in history now. In the above picture, the second from the left is what I call side eared, in reality Oxford Downs, they have little pink ears, completely on the side of their face.
The one on the right is a masham, ears higher on the head, spotted face, and brown ears, I have a warm spot in my heart for the Oxfords.
They are the typical story and tales kind of sheep, it’s how little kids draw sheep, little curls of beige wool coming over their white face. Their nose is pink too. Lovely animals.

This little one is a mix, it has pink ears, but they are standing upwards, and as cute as it is now, it will change over a couple of months and look like his mama Masham. They look squeeky clean in the shows, but when you see them in the Dales meadows, they often are dirty from lying in mud and wet grass, and smell the total opposite of Woollite...

I never get enough of lambs. Every year I have the same cycle, pregnant sheep, and suddenly, the small ones pop out and up.
This herd is hand fed by the farmer who’s farm I was on in the previous week, and they are less shy then normal sheep. They rely on feeding when it snows, so they do come a bit closer after a while, as human stands for munching.

So utterly adorable. And a sad economics rule, we see lambs because we eat lamb. Very few farmers breed them for the love of them, they breed them to make a living. Sure, they love and care for them, but the main reason is money.
If we would stop eating lamb, spring would soon enough become lambless. Such is human nature.
Having said that, I would not mind having an Oxford Down for a pet, just to look at it and make it smell like woollite. Or febreze...
I would give it a nice stable, with free in and out, so it could choose itself if it wants to stand in the rain or inside, in dry hay.

There will be more lambs next week, I will have to keep an eye open. Hard times for the farmers ahead. In lambing season, they have 18 hour work days. Up at four in the morning to check the preggie bellies, find the newborns, vaccinate them and put them in separate pens before letting them out in the meadow.

Most farmers keep the sheep close to home till they have had the lambs, they usually don’t let them lamb in the open. The group has hopeful eyes.
They doubt between running for shelter and the thought of food.
Sorry guys, no food, I am only your official photographer.

The Oxford smiles. She seems to say that it’s OK to take a photograph of her baby. Even for sheep moms, own child is beautiful child. We know how it goes.

And at least the sun is out. Good for the little ones, so they can catch some warmth, there is always a possibility of standing or sleeping on mom’s back, but not when she is standing up. The moms have to lay down for the babies to jump up. Small, but smart enough already to know what spot is the best to stay on.

Auntie Flo is watching me, no lambs, hard to see if she is still pregnant. Maybe they do keep some aunts in to help managing the babies.
When the lambs grow and get more used to the meadow life, they start playing and form what I call kindergarten groups... Zooming back and forth from one end of the meadow to the other. It definitely takes some more supervision then, that is when the aunts come in the picture.

It is getting into the brains that food is not to be expected, they start to walk around, and each has his turn to eat some dry crackers out of the buckets that the farmer put out. Brown chunks, power food. In addition to the hay. The moms need more food if they are nursing one or two babies.

I suddenly discover a mom and another tiny baby just next to the wall. I had not seen them before as I was looking in the meadow.
The baby is smaller then the other ones, must be born only just... I’m lucky, mom stays put, therefore the baby does too, I get a good amount of time to take different photographs.

Different poses, the lamb tries to get his mothers attention, not to worry, she is keeping it close and a good eye on it. They take good care of their lambs, very protective.

The ears seem out of proportion. Baby has huge ears. They will even out when it grows, fed on milk and grass. All baby animals are cute, but lambs were the victory cup. I prefer lambs over any other baby. Maybe a hard shared first place with dog pups and kittens.

Time for a nibble, strange, most moms in this pasture only have one lamb. They normally have two. It means that the one baby will grow fast and furious, it does not have to share the milk with a sibling, the land of Milk and Honey in the sheepworld.

Out of the distance, another mom shows up, with two lambs. They walk on the small trail that sheep before them have traced. Funny, they keep walking on the same paths accross the meadow, you can clearly see what routes they prefer to go to another part with new grass.
One of the babies is happy enough and makes a small lamb jump...

It’s a great sight, playing lambs. It’s not hard to figure out that I spend a long time watching them. Before I know it an hour has gone, if i want lunch i need to go. And a police car stops and a cop with no heart for lambs tells me that I have to move.
O bugger, lucky I have my shots, it’s funny, other people smile and swirl around you when they spot that you are snapping lambs, but there is always a cop who got out of bed in the morning on the wrong leg, so my good times are over.

Time to round up operation Lambs in the snow...
And this will be the last snow entry as thaw has set in, we are back to normal english grey rain weather. I prefer snow.
A good start for lambing season...