Watching for wolves: ‘I told my husband we’d be shepherding a flock of sheep for two nights of our Swiss holiday’

Volunteering as a shepherd was a novel way to play Heidi in Switzerland for Gemma Fullam Two Valais Blacknose Sheep stand near Asserberg in Canton Valais. Photo: swiss-image.ch/Thomas Senf I have a fondness for hare-brained schemes and crackpot notions – so my husband wasn’t at all fazed when I told him we’d be volunteering two nights of our summer to shepherd a pedigree flock of sheep on a Swiss mountainside.

Our mission, which I’d chosen to accept, was with Oppal ( oppal.ch ), a Swiss non-profit group which works with farmers and volunteers to promote peaceful cohabitation of humans, their sheep and wildlife – by which I mean wolves. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news.