Day 7: On not liking animals

I hate animals. Yep, you heard me, I hate them. I mean, I'm glad they exist - fragile ecosystems and all that - but I just don't want the smelly, hairy, noisy, biting creatures anywhere near me, thank you very much. I don't watch wildlife programmes (boring), I've never had a pet (expensive), and I really don't appreciate your dog jumping on me.

The only exception to my anti-animal views (apart from cats, which I don't mind but am allergic to), are lambs.

 

Photograph via @Herdyshepherd1

Ickle bah-lambs! Running and jumping and being oh-so-cute! Just one glimpse of a lamb, and I turn from sarcastic misanthrope to user of horrifically cutesy babytalk. I've threatened to put one in my rucksack on many a hike, and it's only the knowledge that the adorable baby lamb will turn into a big, smelly sheep that stops me. I'm genuinely devestated that BBC2 seems to have abandoned Lambing Live, which was my yearly fix of lamb-related geekiness, although @HerdyShepherd1 on Twitter is doing a very good job of replacing it with daily lamb updates from Cumbria. It's ace for when you're feeling a bit miz - just look at photos of lambs and everything feels better.