Black Sheep Blog

Mr News is off to Leicestershire looking for big cats in a couple of weeks. Apparently, along with big cats, there are also wallabies, wild boar, scorpions and parrots living in colonies throughout the UK.

This got us thinking - what other animals might be able to hack it in the UK?

Definitely wolves and bears as they used to live here. Beaver (apparently they‘re talking about reintroducing it to Scotland).

Mountain gorillas could made hill walking in the Brecons a bit more interesting. A few more years of climate change and Kent will be virtual sub-tropical so there‘s plenty of scope for warm-loving animals like hippo and giraffe. The possiblities are endless!

Exciting news, my friends – big cats are back on the radar!!

For those of The Flock that don’t know – The Black Sheep is a big fan of big cat sightings.

Bodmin yesterday ...

Such a fan in fact that until recently most of our Saturday nights were spent lying in a muddy ditch with a pair of night-vision goggles waiting for a glimpse of the elusive quarry.

However the Police didn’t hold much truck with that excuse hence the Court Order banning us from engaging in “Suspicious Nocturnal Wildlife Viewing”.

A cheesy festive feature - a flock of real-life singing sheep from the Lake District are releasing their version of Jingle Bells for the second Christmas running due to popular demand.

The Baarmy Sheep's version is available for download from the Cumbria Tourism website.

Fpor the hardcore fans - there's also a video to go with it.

Enjoy.

This story here tells of how a duck was shot and, presumed dead, was placed in a fridge.

Two days later, when the fridge was opened, it was found that the duck was in fact still alive.

Subsequently, the duck was operated on to repair the gunshot wounds.

It then expired from heart failure during surgery.

However, the vets performed some sort of avian CPR and resussitated it successfully.

The state in which it currently now resides.

My immediate observation is why all this effort and expense in keeping something alive when the initial intention was to kill it?

Carrots can do great things for humans; most famously they prevent you from knocking your leg against the bedside table when you are getting into bed at night. But what happens when cows get fed carrots...

The office is a buzzing hive of activity today, as is to be expected.

Only one topic dominated the regular monday morning Diary Meeting

No, I'm not talking about the Tim's bull semen hair product thing, but avian flu of course.

Lot of news coverage here, blog stuff here and forum chat here ...

As i write this post with gloves on (due to it being so cold in our office today,)It is worth remembering that the sun does indeed shine somewhere in this world, and it seems like a herd of cows have got the right idea and escaped to sunbathe there

As part of a crack FW team, I'm enjoying the sites of Perth at this moment.

Sadly not the Australian Perth, but the Scottish one.

We're here at the Perth Bull Sales to help the hard launch of Taking Stock - our livestock show and sales blog.

However, these trip usually throw up a few gems and it started well as Mr Photographer checked into the Quality Hotel in Ediburgh last nite and was the surprised to see his name up in lights in the Reception.

The Quality Hotel welcomes Jonathan Page - our Guest of the Day.

What an honour! And he it didn't just end there. No indeed. He was also the proud receipient of a packet of crisps, some bottled water, an apple and a free movie voucher. Such riches.

A strange story on the site today about two ducklings hatching from a box of eggs brought from a supermarket

I realise the importance of fresh produce but maybe this is taking it bit too far!!

The Black Sheep is a hardy beast, so we were surprised to see a farmer putting cagoules onto his lambs to protect them from the harsh weather.

What next i wonder, manicures for horse hooves, parker jackets for cows, or maybe hoodies for chickens (giving all the other chickens a bad name in the process).

Farmers Weekly's reporters are more used to summing up the relative merits of cattle and sheep, but this didn't stop intrepid Mr Business editor Andrew Shirley from sizing up this ferocious Nile crocodile while on a study trip to The Gambia in west Africa.

One the world's most famous horseracing events maybe occuring this Saturday, but there is another racing event that iwill literally be gripping parts of North Devon.

Six sheep have been in training for the Big Sheep event to be held in Abbotsham, North Devon on Saturday. The jockeys are toy animals with natty knitted tops.

The betting will be brisk as according to Rick Turner, the organiser, there were a few surprises last year when Alderknitty came in from nowhere and won first place.

Unfortunately the Black Sheep has pulled a muscle and cannot compete. Or maybe we have had too much Black Sheep Ale

Choosing a donkey as a defence witness in the neighbour dispute could be classed as a tad foolish, but for lawyer Gregory Shamoun, it was a way of proving his innocence.

Neighbour John Cantrell had complained that the donkey in question was brought by Mr Shamoun to annoy him; continuously making loud noises and leaving big piles of manure outside his door.

To defend himself, Mr Shamoun brought the donkey into court, presumably aiming to show how quiet the donkey could be rather than actually making the donkey speak, with carrots or maybe even a pat on the head.

The ploy worked and the dispute was settled out of court, maybe with the prosecution realising that cross-examining a donkey as a witness may be a little problematic.

The Black Sheep is watching its back for a black panther, after two recent separate sightings in Leicestershire. This Panther is apparently bigger than a large alsation, and in a phrase of poetry not usually accustomed to police offices; the panther was described as being 'silhouetted against the skyline. Apparently there could be no mistake in identification.

One could be dubious and say it was a big Labrador, an oversized Styrian Coarse Haired Hound (they exist, read it and weep)or maybe the work of an overactive imagination. Either way, the Black Sheep is on the look out.

It's official - geese are trying to enter the technological age!!!

Sick of their reputation as beasts that attack random people for bread-related snacks, a trio of geese have decided that mobile phones are the way forward for the species, taking one off a scared student before running away.

Maybe they want to communicate with friends down the river or maybe they want to order a pizza. Either way, the geese are on the war path so beware with your Blackberry as you pass any lakes!!!!

A nice story of how two gay flamingos have become foster parents after taking on an abandoned chick after their parenting skills were seen to be top notch.

The following may offend dog owners or vegetarians. If you are a dog loving vegetarian i definitely wouldn't read the following:

This performance artist shows a more extreme method of protesting. The office has been discussing about how much meat you would get from a Corgi but i would say that all Corgi's that i have seen are chubby little things. Miss Business Reporter said that she thinks it will taste like lamb but i am not sure.

After last night's Corgi story shocked the office, we were even more horrified by the animal kingdom's response...they brought out the hamster, and then an elephant or two. Lord help us!!!!