BADGER FACED.

Now ... before you start thinking that I'm going to write about one of the big controversial debates of this past year ... relax. Yes the culling of badgers in trial areas to try and combat Bovine T.B has been a topic of much discussion with the split between for and against being hotly debated by the for and against side of the topic. One thing is for sure, the cost to our bovine farming community is annually horrendous, let alone the stress caused by constant veterinary testing of cattle and the fact that each "reactor" in the herd means that is the end for that beast and ... the farmer then has to wait until the next test, all the while unable to move or sell any of his stock from the farm. Some of the farmers around here gave up especially after the horrific, countrywide devastation of herds due to B.S.E some years go and now this perpetual concern about the possibility of T.B in current stock. Thank goodness there are still some locally who battle on and keep the breeds of cattle going. They are hard working, weather beaten, tough mountain farmers who also are out in all types of weather tending to their ovine and bovine stock.

Relax ... the badger face I'm going to share with you, is to do with sheep!

There is actually a Badger Faced Welsh Mountain Sheep Society for the pure breeds.  If you are interested in seeing the pure bred Badger Face, google them, but the throwback genes can creep in to mark out some of our standard Welsh Mountain breed and softy as I am ... I just love their unique and colourful markings.

Put it this way, when the ewes are on the mountain, they stand out in a crowd.

Look carefully at the ears of the on above and you will notice that the ears are clipped.

Long before the days of tagging, each farmer had a way of clipping the ears that was unique to that particular farm and that still holds good today. It is easier to be able to associate a different farm by the clip pattern in the ears from a distance where one could not read the minute details in modern tags. Each farm has it's own numerical prefix, followed by numbers that are unique to each sheep. But with the ear marks, one can tell instantly which sheep belongs to which farm, even without being able to read the tags.

With the proposed electronic tagging system, instant recognition would be impossible.

As I write this, I have half an ear on the Wales v New Zealand rugby match. I'm not a happy hector, we are getting thrashed! And to think that in 1972 a club team. Llanelli Scarlet's beat the  All blacks 9-3! Now who is feeing badger faced.

...... a while later having watched the remains of the match, Dafad is not happy with the 33-10 final score and to think we won the Triple Crown last year. Ah well at least Ireland beat Argentina 46-24 so there is still some celtic pride left.

Back to sheep and ... weather.

A farmer friend I spoke to this morning was due to gather in some of the few stray ewes left on the mountain but the weather was too bad. It has rained for most of the day, local roads are running with water and just a small walk along the very puddled back lane with the dog was enough for both of us and tomorrow seems to be no better. Our farmers are having a hard time of it at the moment, both arable and animal are finding the conditions hard to work in and for the arable after the early drought months of the year, their fields are now getting flooded. At least our mountain sheep are fairly hardy creatures. and as for the cattle they are being kept in the barns, but that means extra feed needed and the harshness of winter frozen ground is not as yet ... a problem but if as forecast the temperature is due to drop quite dramatically that means extra feed needed for both cattle and sheep, including my few favourite badger faced ewes. The tups have been busy, both Texel and Welsh Mountain, and on one local farm the fairly rare and also unusual looking Balwens (another hardy Welsh Mountain breed)  Personally I hope to see a few more throw backs in next years generation of lambs.