An Australian farmer was unable to attend his aunt’s funeral due to epidemic controls, so he paid his respects with an innovative alternative: dozens of sheep arranged in the shape of a romantic heart.
This week, mourners watched a drone video of pregnant goats eating barley in the meadow as they unknowingly expressed their affection for Ben Jackson at a funeral in Brisbane, Queensland.
Jackson was locked up inside the state line at his farm in Cairo, New South Wales, 430 kilometers (270 miles) away at the time.
“I needed some effort to do it right … the end result is what you see. That was very close to my heart,” Jackson said.
During much of Australia’s devastating drought in the early months of the epidemic, Jackson began trying to make sheep patterns to alleviate the monotonous stress of manually feeding cattle.
He found that if he pronounced the names of his favorite band from the grain that fell down from the back of a truck, the herd would take the same shape for several minutes.
“It definitely lifted my spirits in the drought,” Jackson said.
“This heart I created for my aunt definitely seems to have made a small impact in Australia,” he added, noting the emotional responses on social media.
“Maybe we should all give each other a great virtual warmth,” he said.
Jackson said he was lucky to have a few grains left on his property after the mouse attack this year following the drought.
Continue to include the diet of pregnant goats with whole grains.
