RSPCA rescuers in Wales find stranded sheep by bleating

Ewe cannot believe the trouble Wales' roaming sheep can land themselves in.

RSPCA Cymru inspectors have been called out repeatedly over the past year, with sheep common among the rescues.

The animal charity has highlighted some of its more memorial callouts from 2022 which had a happy ending.

In one, inspectors made bleating noises in order to get a ewe to respond so they could pinpoint its location after it fell and became stuck in brambles by its fleece.

Four days earlier, the animal had tumbled about 20m (65ft), and ended up in a tangle but unhurt.

RSPCA inspectors had to cut through bracken for over an hour while making bleating noises to encourage it to call back so they could find it on Conwy's Mynydd y Dref, also known as Conwy Mountain.

"To our relief she replied," said Insp Andrew Broadbent.

"We kept 'talking' to her, getting closer and closer all the time and eventually found her sheltering on a little ridge surrounded by thick brambles.

"After cutting her free and checking for injuries we then followed the path we had just come down, both of us part carrying, part pushing her back up the mountain so she could re-join her flock."

He was also involved in a 30m (98ft) rope rescue with Insp Mark Roberts and other colleagues after a ram became stranded on a ledge close to the bottom of a quarry near Llangollen, Denbighshire.

The pair abseiled down, caught the ram and put it in a bag before lowering it to safety.

"He wasn't injured so was released where he started to graze again," said Insp Roberts.