Bog Myrtle & Peat

As a gift to myself, I’ve made a leap into the 21st Century. Usually recalcitrant and unwilling to embrace change, I’ve had to confess that the project I’ve undertaken at Low Airie is almost beyond my capacity. My plan to cast a dozen galloways loose in two hundred acres of thoroughly rough, broken country aligns with every value and aspiration I hold dear, but it does present some massive logistical difficulties, particularly when it comes to checking them and making sure that they stay in situ.

Despite having spent just over a month restoring boundaries and making sure that my patch is stockproof, I am horribly aware that if any beasts escape over the dykes, they will essentially fall off the map. Inspecting Google Earth, it became horribly clear that any potentially fugitives have nothing standing between them and Kilmarnock. I think I’m doing a fair job of the fencing, but it would help me to sleep at night if I was a little more confident that if my beasts decide to make an exit, they will at least give me some chance of recovering them.

So I did the unthinkable and ordered a set of GPS satellite collars from a company in Spain. All being well, I will fit the cattle with trackers before they go out, and then I will be able to follow their movements from the comfort of my armchair. Part of me feels a little wimpy for taking an easy option, but even if they remain where I put them, I still have a dull dread of low cloud or fog for days at the height of midsummer. How on earth would I find my cows in two hundred acres without some digital hint? Instead of flogging myself with accusations of cowardice, I tell myself that I am being sensible and making a positive (if somewhat costly) investment in order to make my life easier and more fun.

Much more on this to come…