Do I love Valais Blacknose sheep because we have the same hair? Maybe. They’re called “the cutest sheep in the world” for a reason.
We’re both curly tops, although these beauties go all out with clouds of trailing white fleece. I have dark lowlights, they have gorgeous black faces and knees. Plus there are those spiralling Yoda-like horns. They also have the sweet disposition of a lap cat crossed with a curious puppy. There’s no signs of typical sheep skittishness here.
Hanging out with celebrity sheep
I spent time with a few high-end championship Valais Blacknose at luxury 19th-century country house hotel Palé Hall near the Snowdonia Mountains in Wales. The small flock of pedigree sheep are an irresistible amenity at the five-star Relais & Chateaux property. To add to the cute overload, there were some newborn lambs in the barn. There was even a stuffed version covered in their clipped wool in my suite.
Beyond making championship lambs, head ram Karter and his buddies Kokonut, Kaffir, Ingred, Larry and Junior are there for one reason: for the guests to visit and pet. We were encouraged to come into their corral to visit anytime during the our stay and chat with the shepherds about their care. The stocky sheep enjoyed hugs and pats and delivered gentle head butts to remind me I was slacking when the pettings stopped.
Valais Blacknose get movie-star treatment
The Swiss Valais Blacknose breed seems to be having a moment. I was delighted to see them play a key role in summer hit The Sheep Detectives, showing up in the final reel as the mystery flock that helps the intrepid sheep sleuths solve the murder of their shepherd. I kept poking my partner and hissing, “I know them!”
Turns out I didn’t. They’re from Hampshire, southwest of London, but they did look a lot like my Welsh buddies.
You can visit The Sheep Detectives wooly movie stars at family run Miller’s Ark Farm on the Earl of Malmesbury estate, about 70 kilometres outside London. The farm specializes in rare-breed British farm animals. There are a variety of experiences for daytrippers who want to spend quality time with animals, including a three-hour farm visit and tour and farmer-for-a-day adventures for kids. Prices start at $100.
Diddly Squat Farm gets in on cutest sheep action
My third world’s-cutest-sheep sighting this of the year was on Season Five of Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm. Potty-mouthed farmer Jeremy Clarkson is astonished to learn his partner Lisa Hogan paid nearly $20,000 CDN for five Valais Blacknose. Or, as he called them, “Lisa’s faceless sheep,” asking if “every single Manchester United footballer’s wife” owned them.
Ouch.
I guess it’s okay for him to spend more than four times that on a nine-ton Lamborghini tractor. Hogan got a deal on her flock compared to the celebrity sheep bill at Palé Hall, where female champion Ingred cost more than $58,000 CDN.
The Barbados blackbelly
Speaking of sheep, I spent some time in Barbados in June. The easternmost island in the Caribbean is worth considering when you start looking at planning a winter getaway. The beaches are excellent and the west side of the island has warm and calm, turquoise water for swimming.
As Canadians increasingly say they want to experience local culture on a deeper level when they travel, Barbados tourism has a range of new activities to help that happen. The new Dine with a Bajan program lets visitors share home-cooked meals with local hosts in their homes and it was one of the best things I did on my visit. I just wrote about that.
The sheep part of this travel story comes from the island’s unique breed, the Barbados blackbelly. They’re a mix of African hair sheep and European breeds. When I saw them in a field, I thought they were goats at first because they have hair, rather than fleece. They’re also delicious. Sorry, sheep but it’s true. At my Dine with a Bajan experience at the home of Juliet and Franklyn Jeffers, Juliet made a fantastic shepherd’s pie with, well, you guessed it.
New Zealand has cute sheep, too
I’m headed to New Zealand in October, where there are 25 million sheep, about five sheep per person. The New Zealand Romney is the most common breed. They also have adorable Valais Blacknose sheep in Aotearoa, the Maōri-language word for New Zealand, where they tend to be kept as pets.
Don’t forget Insta-worthy Highland cattle
By the way, Palé Hall also owns a few photogenic, reddish-gold coloured Highland cattle, known as “hairy coos” in Scottish slang. Like the resident Valais Blacknose sheep, they are incredibly gentle and their only purpose is to charm the guests.
I didn’t expect to see Highland cattle when I checked in at Le Germaine Charlevoix Hotel & Spa in the artsy town of Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec in the foodie region of Charlevoix. The Michelin Key hotel has an adjacent farm with a small Highland herd. There were some adorable calves, too.
I joined a few guests at the fence to feed the adults dandelions and apples. I love the way their long bangs flop into their eyes. As I relaxed in the pools and saunas at on-site Spa Nordique Le Germain, I looked up to see one of the long-horned, copper-coloured cattle giving me the eye.
All I need is one more Highland cattle sighting and I’ve got a new cute animal trend.
