I slip the small backpack onto my shoulders and pick up the crook from the back of the ranger. A short distance away is a set of twin lambs and their momma. There is plenty of warmth in the sunshine this morning and the lambs are soaking it up.
With my approach Momma realizes something is amiss and gurgles to her babies. They are full bellied, sun soaked, and asleep. They are babes and do not yet recognize the urgency as Momma does. They stay where they are. I regret that I am going to be one of their lessons on wariness. Moving smoothly I step up to the lambs, kneel and place a hand on each. No quick sprint and the shepherds crook is not even needed this time. Sleepy, sun soaked lambs are the easiest to catch and one of my favourite perks of lambing time. The ewe will disagree but I take these easy moments where and when I get them, and am glad for them.
When I am through with the lambs I return them to the distraught ewe. She does a fast sniff inspection of her lambs while backing away. The spray mark applied to the lambs smears the low curve of her belly when one of the babes makes a dive for the udder. Full as they are, a little bit of milk still soothes them from the trauma of being caught. The ewe does another fast check to be sure that she has both lambs and then trots off, urgent to get her lambs a safe distance away.
The scene around the pasture is a busy one. At first glance you can’t be sure who belongs to who. Heck, even on second, third and fourth look you can’t be certain. Ewes and lambs are beginning to make their way to the shade of the trees. A guardian dog is across the way; following the ewes lead, she is also making her way toward the trees. I carry on with checking for lambs while animals are still spread out. My schedule is dictated by their activity and once the animals settle in the trees I won’t bother them on account of the group being in closer quarters. When they settle in the trees disturbing one means disturbing all and it’s not worth it. When the animals settle in the trees is when I take my leave.