Ewe have to be kidding: Zara the kelpie watches over her newly expanded family at the Binalong Police Station, Daisy the sheep and newcomer Molly the lamb. Photo: Natalie Booth.
There was movement at the (police) station, for word had got around … that if there was a poddy lamb in need and Binalong’s Senior Constable Natalie Booth was around, chances are it would flock to her.
Late last year, while on her regular walk around town, Constable Booth found a newborn lamb, clearly struggling to survive alone on the side of the road. No mother was in sight so she took it home to the police station and started giving it four-hourly feeds.
Today, Daisy the sheep is thriving, living in (almost) harmony with Zara, a kooli/kelpie cross.
But, sheepishly, the story doesn’t end there. When word got around the village (population: 543) and all over social media that this policewoman had skills not necessarily found in any police handbook, she was first choice when it came to caring for another poddy lamb in need.
Welcome Molly. “I forgot how hard bottle feeding was,” Constable Booth joked, “she’s on feeds every four hours.”
So what happens when the officer is called away to an urgent job, very likely when you consider she works in the Hume Police District which stretches from Jugiong to Goulburn in the NSW Southern Tablelands. (Kelpies are smart, but a little too smart to feed other animals.) Instead, friends and neighbours rally around, offering to do the feeds if she is away.
“Looks like we’re now a family of four,” Constable Booth said. “Daisy wasn’t too keen at the start but she’s ignoring all the bleating – and Molly does have a loud bleat on her.
“Molly’s more demanding than Daisy was but she’s more affectionate. Every time I open the back door, she tries to get inside.
Senior Constable Natalie Booth with her first poddy lamb Daisy, who has since been joined by Molly. Photo: Supplied.
Constable Booth says she’s OK with the new addition to the family, because she is “a real character”.
“She does this funny little dance, then she does zoomies. It’s great having her around but this is it … no more.”
There’s also been a touch of sheepish rivalry with Molly commandeering some of Zara’s toys – toys that Molly had developed an attachment to. “Molly and Daisy had a bit of a punch-up,” she joked.
The only problem is that last year, when she first took in Daisy, heavy rains had given way to great feed in the yard for the sheep, but that’s not the case now.
The need for lawnmowers is not as great as it was, she said, “so I’ve had to buy some hay in for them.” It’s also disappointing for locals who’ve come to love watching Daisy chomp her way through the front yard.
So where does everyone sleep? Constable Booth has the house, the animals are in the old police cell which is attached to the house. “They love it in there,” she said.
Even if there’s a Binalong break-out, ewe can be sure they’ll all go on the lamb.
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