Gail Milkovich of Rycroft, Alta., has a very prolific ewe.
The animal gave birth to two lambs on April 12 and a mere two months later, on June 12, birthed two more. According to a veterinarian, the feat was possible because the ewe had two uteruses.
It’s a happy story of unexpected bounty, and as Milkovich says in her letter, ranchers like she and her husband, who are being adversely affected by the fallout from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, could use some happy news.
She’d also like to know of any similar cases of sheep births, so drop us a line.
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At the WP, many of the brighter stories somehow involve animals. Those are the ones I save, anyway.
Last week freelance writer Alan Harman sent a story from Australia about a heroic kangaroo.
Yes, you read that right.
The Len Richards family rescued a baby kangaroo five years ago after its mother had been killed. The joey had only one eye, so state authorities allowed the family to adopt and raise it. The kangaroo, named Lulu, came and went from the ranch as it pleased. When a storm recently struck the Gyppsland region and a tree branch fell on and injured Richards while he was out in his field, Lulu saw the whole thing.
“The kangaroo … went to the farm residence and created such a commotion the farmer’s wife, Lynn, followed it into the fields and found her stricken husband,” Harman wrote. He quoted Mrs. Richards: “If it wasn’t for her, I really don’t know how long it would have been before we actually found him.”
Once again, a story of unexpected bounty, this one derived from kindness extended years ago.
In an admittedly tortured segue, it is a pleasant duty to report some unexpected bounty reaped by the Western Producer.
WP writers won four writing awards in the annual contest organized by the Canadian Farm Writers Federation. They were presented last weekend in Kelowna, B.C.
Karen Briere, our Regina bureau
news reporter, won the gold award in the features category for a report on the future of ethanol production on the prairies. Calgary bureau
news reporter Barbara Duckworth won silver in the same category for a report on the rural conflict created by urban sprawl. Mike Raine, based in Saskatoon, completed the category sweep with a bronze award for stories on livestock cloning.
In the press editorial category, the WP won a silver award for an opinion on country-of-origin labelling.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers.
