Would you like to be a shepherd?

Shephers are needed in Brighton and Hove. Yes, really. With autumn on its way, we will once again be able to see sheep improving grassland all around the city so that wild flowers and butterflies can flourish.

Councillor Pete West, Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability, said:  "Last month some of the sheep came to Pelham Square in the city centre. It gave us the opportunity to explain why sheep are more environmentally friendly than mowers and how our local volunteer shepherds or "lookerers" take care of them.

"The initiative has the full support of the council as well as community and conservation groups all around the city. Why not come and visit one of the grazing sites or sign up to be a lookerer? All we ask is that you keep your dog under control when around the sheep to make sure that it does not chase them."

Sheep will be grazing at Sheepcote Valley, Benfield Hill, Green Ridge and Crowhurst Corner this month and later in the winter at Waterhall, Bevendean Down, Whitehawk Hill, Stanmer Park, Wild Park and Beacon Hill in Rottingdean.

The Council needs to make more regular checks on the sheep than might be necessary if they were grazing in the wider countryside.

If the shepherd had to make all of these checks it would take up a large amount of time and make grazing many small sites impractical. We have therefore been recruiting volunteer shepherds, or lookerers, to help keep an eye on our sheep.

Lookerers need to be able to:

    •    get around on quite steep uneven slopes, as that is where the sheep graze

    •    be available in the winter months - we normally graze our sites in the winter so that the sheep do not eat the flowers!

    •    spare around one hour a week while the sheep are on site.

    •    have a mobile phone so that you can receive any updates on the sheep, phone in your report and contact us in case of emergency

    •    attend a lookering course so that you know what to look for.

    •    commit to checking the sheep and making a report when you have agreed to or make sure another lookerer will..

The training is free and consists of a one day course at Stanmer. For more details and regular updates, call 01273 292929 or visit the volunteer shepherds website page here

DID YOU KNOW? Sheep die only too easily. They are similar to tortoises and some unlucky beetles in that simply falling on to their backs is enough. When a sheep is upside down, it is often incapable of righting itself, and over the course of a few hours, its belly fills with unexpelled gas, crushing its internal organs. That is why disentangling the sheep from brambles is so important.