M.I.A.

It is with great sadness that the following members of our community on the Rock are now posted as missing in action.

Bill, Meg, April and Molly, all Suffolk Sheep were last seen heading towards the common at 08.15 hrs on 21-2-08. They were on a grazing mission, they knew the dangers, they accepted the risks but felt their sacrifice was a price worth paying to boldly go where no Rock sheep had gone to graze before.

They were well trained, able to jump fences twice their height, highly skilled, able to strip a tree of its bark in seconds, well equipped with the latest state of the art fleece all weather protection system, but in the end it seems the odds were against them.

I counted them all out, but when the grazing party returned there were four missing.

Despite extensive searching of the perimeter, the common and patrols along the road no sight or sign has been seen of the Rock four. As they missed their final emergency rendezvous yesterday it has been officially decided to call off all further searches and post them as missing in action. They are not presumed dead, but if they do not find their own way back before the spring round up, if they are still on the hill they will become cheap pie filling along with any other stragglers.

Our thoughts are with the rest of the flock who maintain a silent vigil in the yard in the vain hope their companions will return unscathed and that someone will fill the feed trough.