Pulled up at
Murrays Corner today and was getting the thermos out of the rear of the car when
I had the feeling I was being watched, Returned to front door and was assailed
by a pungent, sour smell. Glanced around and 15 metres away upwind from me were
three ferine sheep, pitiful looking creatures with long, straggly wool touching
the ground. Their fleece was polluted with dried vegetable matter and heavily
fouled about their nether regions. No doubt, come warmer weather, they’ll be
fly-struck, assuming the Sheep Blowfly Lucillia cuprina is prevalent in
that region.
I waved by arm
suddenly in the direction of the sheep to be rid of them and they turned and
trotted away. It was then that I noticed three or four Common Starlings clinging
to the log wool on the sheep’s flanks; no doubt feeding on a excess of
ectoparasites. With just a touch of imagination I visualised oxpeckers riding
along on the big herbivores of the African savannah.
Should I have
been surprised to see Common Starlings at Murrays Corner given the altitude and
time of year?
John K.
Layton.
Holt.