The Low Down

When photographing animals it always helps to get down on their level, which is why when I'm holding a camera I naturally adopt the hunchback position!

To save my back a little (I'm going to need it later), I brought some large pieces of cardboard into the field with the lambs, picked a spot, and lay down on my tummy. While I was walking to my photographing spot, the lambs followed me, nibbling on the cardboard and being lovable little nuisances - the moment I lay down, they retreated to a safe distance. Apparently I'm scary when I lie down.

Ducky's feeling brave...

Millie's not.

Ducky and Honey are nicely matched - both are ambiguous Suffolk crosses in a field of Kerry Hills, a Texel and a Zwartble - and they are evenly sized.

Lying on the ground makes even little Honey look like a horse of a sheep.

The last time Bob was on the blog, he was struggling to fit in with the girls, due to them thinking he was some sort of monster. Now I'm pleased to report that he's become "one of the girls", so to speak.

He's still really short, though - Rosie's roughly the same age as Bob and she looks down on him.

(Almost) the whole gang - Bob, Rosie, Ducky, Margo and Millie.

It's interesting to see the subtle differences there are with Margo and Rosie's faces. At first glance they look like twins, but Margo is a Kerry Hill/Lleyn and Rosie is a Kerry Hill/Texel. Note that Rosie's face is much more angular thanks to her Texel blood.

(Actually) the whole gang: Margo, Rosie, Millie, Ducky, Honey and Bob.

Suckie is in the gang too.

A change of position, which involved lambs chasing me as I walked, before running away once I lay down. Again.

A close-up of the grass, because the only other time I'm this close to it is when I've fallen over, and I'm not really in the mood to take pictures then.

One flaw in my plan that I failed to account for was the baby spiders. Baby spiders everywhere. The grass was covered in cobwebs and little spiders were frequently joining me on my cardboard or climbing onto my camera. They don't bother me as much as they adults, but still... I didn't linger long.

Rosie wondered why I waited until the winter time to have the idea of lying on the ground.