Yesterday afternoon I found a collar for Mopple at the farm store. It’s a cute red number made of faux suede with an elastic insert, brass-colored fittings and a bell (yep, it’s a cat collar).
We keep a brass goat bell suspended in the bottle baby crib, so Mopple’s already used to the sound of bells a’tinkling. He’s the first lamb to actively play with the bell (and in the wee hours of the morning, no less); kids love it but until now, our lambs pretended it wasn’t there. So, he didn’t fuss a bit when I strapped the bell-clad collar around his neck. Then I took him outdoors for a run.
The three older rams come out in our yard for a few hours every evening; this was their first nose-to-nose meeting with the lamb. They crowded forward to sniff him; he didn’t care, he simply kept spronking and practicing ninja kicks. Wooby gave Rumbler a knowing look and rolled his eyes. They put their heads together and began mumbling. I couldn’t help myself—I eavesdropped. This is what they said.
“Did you see that thing around his neck?” Oran demanded.
“Yeah,” said Rumbler. “It has a bell on it and it’s red!’
“Disgusting.” Wooby sighed as the lamb spronked by. “Disgusting and very un-sheeplike. Next thing you know, we’ll have to wear them too!”
Mopple wasn’t nearly as enthused when I snapped a featherweight leash to his collar but today he was yielding to pressure quite well.
Tomorrow I’ll introduce the clicker! Weather permitting (it’s pretty crummy out there today) I’ll do it outdoors a shoot some pictures to share.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment