Grazing Animals in the Landscape

I have a different perspective on grazing animals from that of the conservation industry. The wholly natural deer browsing the birch and rowan this morning are natural and they looked natural in a landscape that I have watched over many years becoming more and more natural, which feels natural and brings immeasurable benefits to the spirits of those who lazily enjoy its charms.


But I'm not resistant to the possibility that farm animals can also look good in an artificial landscape that has been caringly maintained by someone with a pride in the land and who values that which pleases the eye. You very rarely see this around Blacka but this morning most unusually I caught a hint of what could have been.


In the pasture land on Blacka a bluebell covered knoll* was bathed in spring sunlight and a small group of sheep and lambs were enjoying the warmth. These, in contrast to many of the animals were not covered with dyed-on numerals and I dont know how they escaped the system.


So it was like a scene from previous times before conservation struck a grubby deal with industrial farming. (further down the pasture land the smell of the livestock was a stark contrast with the freshness of the air on the natural landscape adjoining.)
In a distant field cattle were grazing spread across the grass in that intriguing assymetrical way that I've always found more satisfying to view than cattle on the hills.


When another hind walked by in the foreground the beautiful naturalness of the one seemed compatible with the satisfying artificiality of the other - in its place.



* Bluebells on the grassland suggest that it may not have been that long ago that trees covered much of this land. I would like to know if anyone is able to confirm that. The sheep of course have only just returned. Had they been around for longer the bluebell display might have been not so good. Last year the harebells (known in Scotland as bluebells) were also splendid here later in the summer, but that was an obvious result of an extended and welcome absence of sheep and cattle for several months. The presence of sheep now will put paid to any repetition of the attractive flower meadow feature seen last year.