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This Australian Farmer Isn't Sheepish About Showing Love For His Late Aunt

In this image taken from video, sheep form the shape of a heart in a field in Guyra, northern New South Wales, Australia, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021.
Ben Jackson
/
AP
In this image taken from video, sheep form the shape of a heart in a field in Guyra, northern New South Wales, Australia, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021.

Australian sheep farmer Ben Jackson was stuck at home, unable to attend his beloved aunt's funeral.

Coronavirus pandemic border closures in the country kept Jackson at home in Guyra in the state of New South Wales, more than 200 miles away from the funeral in Brisbane in Queensland. His aunt died after a two-year battle with cancer, reports The Guardian.

Unable to say goodbye in person, Jackson still wanted to honor her in a memorable way.

As he fed his pregnant ewes (that's a female sheep) this week, he arranged dozens of his animals in the shape of a heart. By laying out grain by hand in his desired shape, his hungry animals set out to do the rest of the work.

From the sky, a drone captured video of the sheep as they huddled around the grain, appearing like white moving specks on the pasture.

"I just hope that when I did it, she was having a peep through the clouds and was able to see it," Jackson told 7News in Sydney.

He calls it "sheep art," according to ABC News, and this is not the first time he's used his livestock for storytelling.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jaclyn Diaz is a reporter on Newshub.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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