Apparently it’s quite the thing for the country set to have a few of these woolly blighters wandering round the paddock.
But the wheels of fashion – and social one-upmanship – are ever turning. Alpacas, it seems, are now oh so last season, and this year people with acres of lawn to keep trim are turning to wallabies as an alternative.
Yes, you read that right: wallabies – the hoppy little marsupials from Down Under.
According to The Times, suppliers are reporting a surge in demand (please note that I resisted the temptation to say jump) from homeowners keen to keep the grass in check.
Back in the day, this was done by a team of gardeners, or a flock of sheep, but in these credit-crunched times gardeners are expensive, and sheep, well, let’s face it, they’re just a little bit common (and dumb with it).
Wallabies, on the other hand, are cheap, amusing and, apparently, very good with children.
They have the added advantage of making you look like a genuine English eccentric - “Old Binky … capital fellow, but absolutely bonkers. Pair of wallabies in his grounds, you know.”
Mind you, if you want to really make a statement, take inspiration from Dante Gabriel Rossetti who back in the day kept quite a menagerie in his garden: monkeys, armadillos, gazelles, peacocks, a kangaroo, a wombat, and a large black bull.
Apparently he yearned for an African elephant to complete the picture. Rossetti, incidentally, lived at Cheyne Walk, London SW3, so you need not worry yourself.
Now that wallabies are de rigeur, I’m sure Moray council would look sympathetically on a recreation of that particular project.
Hopping off now....
Mr Jackson.
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