Last Thursday morning I had a phonecall from one of our volunteers to say that some of our neighbours cows had been on the main path the evening before. I thanked him for the call and as I was just about to head out for a lagoon count, I would check to see is they were still out. By the time I had got to the Parrinder bank there had been no sign of them. I assumed they had gone back and continued with the count. I had just started the fresh marsh when Rowena radioed that there were 5 cows on the beach!!
After a few phonecalls I managed to track down the owner of the cows and he duly arrived a short while later to round them up. By the time we got to the beach they were enjoying the nice weather sitting near the platform. I was expected a bit of a struggle but the owner had brought a secret weapon - a bucket of parsnips! As calves, they had been fed from the bucket and would follow him anywhere. We were able to clear the path of visitors and watch the slightly bizarre sight of a man with a yellow bucket and 5 cows following him.
Thankfully the operation went smoothly and the herd were reunited quickly. You need to be a 'jack of all trades' to do this job and I can now add cowboy to my CV.