A miracle lamb in North Iceland?

Farmer Jónsson believes the lamb will make a full recovery.

Farmer Jónsson believes the lamb will make a full recovery. Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

“I was shocked, I can’t say otherwise,” says farmer Ólafur Jónsson at Fjöll in Kelduhverfi, North Iceland. Yesterday he found a lamb under a stack of hay bales. The lamb had been missing since last November according to Jónsson, and likely been stuck since then.

“I was moving one of the bales last night and saw that one was damaged. I cursed myself for my clumsiness, for having damaged it last summer when I stacked them.”  When he then lifted the bale he saw more damages and a lot of loose hay.

“I wondered how this could have happened, walked to the stack and saw a pile of wool. I thought to myself that one of my sheep had died.” When he grabbed a hold of the wool it started moving, it was alive.

The lamb was not keen on his attention and tried to run back into its hiding place in a hole in the stack. “I picked it up and took it to the barn where it pranced around, it was fine.” Jónsson gave the lamb a 10 litre bucket of water, believing it to be thirsty as there had been little rain this winter. The lamb finished the water in no time and started to ruminate, a good sign according to Jónsson who believes the lamb will make a full recovery.

Jónsson shared the story of the resilient lamb on his Facebook page and asked for ideas for a name for the lamb. Þrjóska, Seigla, Rúlla og Líf were some of the ideas, referring to stubbornness, hay or life. Jónsson had not decided when he spoke to a journalist but favoured the name Roulette.

The lamb was stuck in a small opening underneath a …

The lamb was stuck in a small opening underneath a stack of hay bales. Árni Sæberg

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