"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Janet Baraclough writes:
| The message
| from "tahiri" contains these words:
|
| If I ring
| the police to find out, does that get the farmer in trouble?
|
| No. But the normal practice is to ring the local farm(s) and leave a
| message. It's not hard to learn which farm keeps which breed, and what
| their mark is. I would only ring the police (right away) if there's a
| road traffic hazard from straying animals.

If the North Wales police got uptight about straying sheep, they would
die of heart failure before the year was out.

If you can't find out which farm they come from, ringing the police
(not on 999!) to ask which it might be would be sensible. But, as Janet
says, try the obvious ones first.

My local farmers don't seem to do 'obvious'.
The owner of the one on my left has a farm several miles away, on my right
only a few miles, neither of them have any of the adjacent fields round
these. I needed their contact details so I can tell them if another car has
gone through the fence and not stayed there. On previous occasions sheep
have come some distance along the road, bothered by traffic, and bearing
different marks to those I see about. I make one phone call and let the
grapevine work. They got collected very early in the morning!
The sheep who prompted my message are wearing recognisable markings for a
change and are a surprisingly amenable pair, quite happy to be escorted next
door. I almost feel like telling them they can come again as they are so
well behaved. Perhaps not!
Thanks all of you.
T.