• Country Life
AT odd times when I have been up in the hills 1 have come upon casualties among sheep, sheep that have perished by drowning or falling and others that, hidden from the searching eyes of the shepherd and his dogs, have been done to death by maggot or infec- tion. Only once, and that recently, have I been in the distressing situation of watching a stricken ewe and not being sure what I should do about it. The ewe in this case had fallen down a cliff. Her legs were in- jured and she probably had internal injuries. She lay straddled on two or three small rocks, her neck outstretched and her breathing heavy and slow. A fly or two kept alighting on her eyes and up on the cliff stood her bewildered lamb. I felt it my duty to put the ewe out of her misery, but I had nothing with which I could decently make an end of her suffering. I walked round the lake on the shore of which she had fallen, hesitating about doing what had to be done and not sure whether 1 had the right, if the ewe had no internal injuries and could still, with care, maintain the life of her lamb. When I came back I found to my relief that the ewe had died. I thought of carrying the lamb back with me, but the way was long and rough and I was not sure that I could catch it. Fortuna- tely, on the road home, I' met the shepherd and told him about the lamb, which eased my mind a great deal.
Previous page
