Sheep are vital to many nature reserves, including Pegsdon Hills and Knocking Hoe NNR, nibbling grass and scrub, allowing space for wildflowers to bloom, but they can be wily and need a watchful eye to keep them safe, healthy and in the right places. Enter the Sheep Nuts, three determined livestock volunteers keeping our flock on the straight and narrow. Local Wildlife talked to them in January.

The self-named Sheep Nuts are three of our current five regular livestock checkers, each putting in a weekly circuit of around three hours at Beds' Pegsdon Hills, Knocking Hoe NNR and sometimes Herts WT’s nearby Hexton Chalk Pit. Quite a commitment, but they don’t seem to look on it that way - for Helen Gebler, a semi-retired former civil engineer, 15 years into her role, livestock checking is just one of her voluntary activities, along with helping with Girl Guiding and her local village hall committee. Jane Harrison, an ex-physiotherapist, was looking for a new commitment on retiring six years ago and a Google search came up trumps, while Fiona Hutton, a retired HR manager, admits to having a love affair with Pegsdon for over 40 years and has been volunteering there for eight years.

The process of checking the sheep is quite involved. “The headline is that we are checking for presence and health,” says Fiona. “With around 300 sheep including the 50 or so at Knocking Hoe, it’s quite a task to keep a track of them all, especially the lambs that end up where no self-respecting animal should bother going.” Jane adds, “Losing just one is the worst thing. If five are missing, they are probably hiding somewhere together.” Helen says, “I do my check on a Friday and email the others as to how many I have found and where. Fiona adds to that after her Sunday check as does Jane every Tuesday, and then we start again. We need to check that the right number of sheep are in each compartment, and each of those can be very different in terms of terrain or vegetation. I enjoy walking and this is a good cardiovascular workout.” Fiona adds, “You need to be made of stern stuff. We’ve been out in horizontal wind and climbed the hills in baking weather. It’s probably most important – for the sheep – to do the checks on extreme weather days. It can be quite a solitary activity, but we love it.”

“This role ticks all my boxes. I love walking and working with the sheep. None of us are stopping any time soon.”

As well as just counting the sheep (and Jane wants transgressors to pay a charity box fine for jokes about falling asleep on the job), the three try to keep an eye on the animals’ health. “Wounds from fights or dogs can be nasty,” says Fiona, ”and we are always on the lookout for limps and flystrike.” Jane adds, “We spend a lot of time observing sheep’s bottoms!”

“In the summer, we have to chase them out of the shade to make sure they are all walking well, and they are less tempted by the rattle of a tin of real sheep nuts then as well. In winter, they rush over,” says Jane. Helen ran a small flock of Hebridean sheep for a few years and has basic veterinary skills, and all three volunteers like to get hands-on with the sheep. “Shearing, lambing and the autumn health check can all be stressful, but entertaining,” says Fiona.

The three do more than checking the sheep and their commitment to the area, its nature conservation and the local community deepen all the time. Helen and Fiona are also voluntary wardens of the reserve and Helen has taken a foundation degree in Conservation and Wildlife Management. Fiona deals with volunteer communications, emailing tasks to her colleagues and she and Helen are part of the planning team for events and reserve management. Jane says, “I like learning and this is different. I learn from the grazing officers and have done a short course in animal health. It’s good to keep learning after retirement.”

When asked the best thing about being a Sheep Nut, three things came to the fore: the sheep, the sense of place and the friendship, especially during the coronavirus lockdowns. “We have become firm friends,” says Jane. They didn’t know each other before starting this role, but now even holiday together. “It can be harder to form strong friendships when you are older.” Fiona agreed: “The place was utterly sustaining during the main lockdowns, when we were lucky that livestock checking was deemed an essential outdoor activity, especially when we were allowed to double up without breaking the rules.” Helen adds, “The views from the reserve are fabulous. It’s a delight to see the seasons and how the year moves on.” These Nuts clearly love the sheep themselves. “I am sitting here with a sheep cushion on my chair, drinking from a sheep mug. I even got a shepherd’s crook for Christmas,” laughs Fiona. Jane loves watching the sheep form little groups and hierarchies.

Among the issues the Sheep Nuts have to deal with are fence and gate repairs. “We have a million miles* of fences,” says Fiona, “and trees fall on them. Gate hinges may need attention; a sheep can get through a kissing gate if the mood takes it.”

Water can also be problematic. “There’s either too much of it or not enough, or it’s frozen. Water trough ball cocks may stop working, or there may not be enough pressure in the summer and we have to bring in bowsers – I carry a chisel for frozen troughs.” Helen always carries secateurs, too, to free sheep from brambles.

The worst aspects of the role are finding sickly sheep and dealing with dogs off leads. As Helen says, “Sheep people will tell you that sheep have a habit of dying on you.” Fiona adds, ”You need a strong stomach for when you find your first dying or injured sheep.”

The Sheep Nuts reckon there is a dog off its lead on the reserve every day, often with serial offenders. Part of the stern stuff required is challenging them. Jane says, “I have tried to talk as though to the dog ‘I know you love chasing sheep, but the sheep don’t like being chased.’ But that only got a response of ‘it was chasing the pheasants, not the sheep!’ Most people are ok, though, but there has been an increase in dog issues and littering over the past two years.”

Sheep aren’t the only wildlife management at Pegsdon, and all three of our Sheep Nuts are regularly involved in work parties, clearing the scrub that even the sheep find too tough. “We missed a whole season of scrub bashing during lockdown,” says Jane “So there is some catching up to be done. We now have groups of up to 20 volunteers helping, and this is a more social activity.” “We all feel part of the whole reserve team,“ adds Fiona.

Would the Sheep Nuts recommend livestock volunteering? You bet! “You get an intimate look at the natural history of an area, “says Fiona, “and I fell in love with the sheep!” Jane adds, “I would say to people that if there is something you like the sound of, give it a go.” For Helen, too “This role ticks all my boxes. I love walking and working with the sheep. None of us are stopping any time soon.”

*Not strictly verified.