Network Rail Employs Flock Of Sheep To Save Wild Orchids

Network Rail Employs Flock Of Sheep To Save Wild Orchids

Until now Network Rail has had to pay staff or rely on volunteers to keep the brambles and hawthorn scrub, which poses a threat to the rare orchids, in check.Regular and careful maintenance is required because rare flowers and native grasses would otherwise be crowded out of their natural habitat.

But it has discovered that the job can be done just as well by the Wiltshire Horn, a breed of sheep with short fleece that naturally moults in the spring.