For the last few weeks, while lazing in bed in the morning, I have been hearing what I thought was our next door neighbor's baby making cooing sounds over in their back yard. It's periodically gotten my boys to barking and getting themselves all worked up, running up and down our bed in a doggie frenzy. Then last weekend, while David and I were out in our own yard, we both heard it. I looked at David and said very loudly, "That's no human baby- that's a lamb!" He said that that was what he had been thinking, as he had heard it repeatedly throughout the afternoon while he worked outside. But considering we aren't zoned for livestock in our neighborhood, which of our neighbors has one (or more as I now think I'm hearing multiple baby baa-baas)?
I think I've narrowed it down to who it is, and that the lamb(s) are being housed behind a small outbuilding and a fenced garden that was planted last season. The trouble is, every time I go over there to catch a glimpse of the tiny babies, they appear to be whisked away to some place where they won't be seen or heard by the authorities. Despite the fact that I was upset that this same person had a small flock of ducks two summers ago that were left out in an unprotected pen and either flew off to greener pastures or were rich duck dinners for one of the many predators who inhabit our neck of the woods, I wouldn't turn him in.
For several years I owned a rooster, in spite of them being illegal in our town. He was a special needs little guy and I didn't have the heart to not keep him here with us and give him the best life he could have, knowing that he'd be culled anyplace else. As a result, when the town came out for their annual health inspection of my property, he would be scooped up and snuck into my house where he would hang out in the kitchen until the coast was clear. Due to his health issues he seldom crowed, but that didn't stop me from holding my breath until the inspectors were well away from my property.
So, my neighbor has baby sheep and I am dying to see them, pet them and feed them, but he is obviously as savvy as I was in hiding what he isn't supposed to have. Besides my wish to finally have the chance to enjoy the contraband little ones, I have only two other wishes: that they're pets and not for eating (I could never eat a baby lamb!) and that he takes far better care of them than he did his ducks.
Photo courtesy of greenprophet.com (I wish I had a photo of the new neighborhood lambs!)
2 comments:
Don't you just LOVE them...so little and innocent. My daughter lives in the country in Illinois and her neighbors have goats and sheep, the babies are sooo sweet. My granddaughters regularly have them in the yard loving on them...so sweet. Those animals, however are destined to be food, so my daughter won't let the girls get too attached.
I wonder what my neighbor's intentions are. He's a weird dude so it could be anything. Maybe it's best I NOT see the babies, that way if they're going to be dinner soon, I won't get too attached either, just like your granddaughters.
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