An RSPCA officer had to go to the rescue of a rather silly sheep - who got her head stuck in a tree trunk!

Animal collection officer (ACO) Kim Sheriff was called to a field in Hawkshaw, on the outskirts of Bury, Greater Manchester mid-December, after two girls found the stricken sheep in a bit of a tight spot.

“I have never quite seen anything like it,” ACO Sheriff said. “I must admit, I was left scratching my head wondering why on earth this ewe put her head inside the tree trunk in the first place!

“She was really distressed and was trying desperately to free herself. Goodness knows how long she’d been trapped like that. Thankfully, I was able to calm her down and manoeuvre her so I could gently free her from the tree.

“She wasn’t injured and, unsurprisingly, seemed to be feeling a little sheepish so ran off back to join her flock. This girl had definitely been baaaaa-king up the wrong tree!”

It’s not the first time RSPCA officers have been called to the rescue of a rather silly sheep as last December Inspector Rachel Smith found a sheepish-looking ewe with a traffic cone on her head in the middle of the field in Chorleywood, Rickmansworth.

Inspector Smith said: “She could see over the top of the cone so I had to crouch down and sneak up on her. I managed to grab the cone and she backed away from me so she popped right out.

“Although no harm came to this unfortunate sheep, on a serious note people should make sure all hazards are removed from areas that farm animals have access to.”

For more information on the RSPCA's work visit rspca.org.uk.