A lot less bovver than a hover

It seems that the latest way of getting out of having to mow the lawn on a Sunday afternoon is to buy a couple of wallabies. It appears that those purchasing them see them as cuter, more friendly and more exotic as, say, sheep and according to The Times, private orders for the marsupials have jumped (is that an intentional pun I wonder) in recent years.

However, at a cost of £150 for a male and a female at around £650, it is, perhaps, the more well-off that can afford such grass cutters, not forgetting the additional cost of food and bedding. And, of course, the fact that you need at least 5ft fencing around your property to foil any leap to escape and around half an acre of land for them to roam around in.

What if you have a swimming pool? Well apparently, strangely enough, although on land wallabies can only move their hind feet together, when swimming they can kick each leg independently. And I suppose there would be no problem with the possibility of electrical accidents occurring with the no-so-good mix of water and electrons and protons.

However, you may have those few extra £s in your pocket to be able to afford the fencing, half acre of land and a swimming pool, but still prefer to mow your lawn in the traditional way. If this were the case, and you had hedging around your garden , I expect you would never expect to come across a cow in your swimming pool though. This was the case for a couple in Buckinghamshire recently. After hearing a commotion they went outside to discover that the ruminant had broken through their hedge, torn through their swimming pool cover and was taking a dip.

She panicked and tried to jump out, but ended up half in and half out, promptly falling asleep from her exertions and had to be rescued by the RSPCA. Happily, she was none the worse for wear after her watery adventure. I hope the water wasn’t friesian cold.