Caught Red Hoofed

Somebody has been eating the bark off the trees in the back paddock.  This is really bad for the trees and can kill them so it was important to curb this undesirable behaviour right away.  As a temporary fix I surrounded the tree trunk with fencing and barricaded it with patio furniture until I could get my hands on some chicken wire to protect the trunk properly.

It was a mystery which ovine was the guilty party until yesterday when I caught the two lambs red handed (or red hoofed as it were) with mouths full of bark.  Violet had pushed her way through the cast iron chairs and had stuck her head through the gaps in the fence while Abbott stood on watch.  Sadly, he is not very good at being a look-out since I made it right up to them before he noticed I was coming.  Neither lamb looked particularly guilty at getting caught and both pranced over to me asking to be petted.

I have since secured a roll of chicken wire and have proactively fenced around all the important trees in the back paddock.  Donkeys are reportedly renowned bark eaters too so I figure we might as well get this chore done now since we would inevitably have to do it once Charlie P. arrives in a few weeks.