Snowonder

Snow in Northland?   Yes, well it has happened before, in fact, when my Dad was a lad some eighty years ago he told me it snowed at Cape Reinga which is near the northern tip of the North Island.   I wonder which is better - freezing cold winds and snow or freezing cold winds and rain.   Whichever, the Miniature Herefords take it in their short strides.   It's no wonder the little guys started growing very shaggy coats in early autumn.   Perhaps they knew something we didn't.

Plenty in the New Zealand media reports about the "Polar blast" but hey - over in South Australia they were having their own snowstorms.    There's something about a snowy picture on a fine day which leads to the comment "picture postcard" but even on days where the sun is hidden things can look "picturesque" and any of the photos in this story could be that.

The three woolly weaners in this photo belong to a Miniature Hereford  Stud near Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand.......
               
 
while in the other very wintry scene, just north-east of Bathhurst, South Australia the minis are almost invisible under a snow duvet.                                                                         

The bleak side is one which has a wind chill factor which drives down temperatures remorselessly.   Blizzards, like the one in this photo, can really make life uncomfortable for man and beast.
                                                                               


BUT, providing quality feed and good shelter is available the animals can weather almost anything.

If the pundits are right then we are in for an early Spring and some are even saying an early Summer.    Let's

hope there is an in-between time of warmth and gentle rain which allows plenty of grass growth because      

another severe drought on top of all that has happened recently won't earn Mother Nature many friends!