What's the deal with the shoe fence and bra fence?
Apr 7th, 2005, 03:09 PM
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What's the deal with the shoe fence and bra fence?
Just south of Dunedin, I past a fence that was covered with old shoes and boots. It was so funny and I wondered what the story was and how it got started.
Later on, north of Queenstown , somewhere, we saw a bra fence. All kinds of bras draped over a fence.
Did anyone else see these, and does anyone know the story?
Later on, north of Queenstown , somewhere, we saw a bra fence. All kinds of bras draped over a fence.
Did anyone else see these, and does anyone know the story?
Apr 7th, 2005, 03:43 PM
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It's really quite simple. You probably noticed that New Zealand is a very rocky country. Well, the farmers got sick of taking their sheep to the veterinary surgeons with cut and bleeding hooves, and they asked the government for a subsidy to cover these costs. Then the RSPCA got into the act about animal cruelty, and before you could say "lamb chop" the government had worked out a way to save themselves the subsidy and placate the animal cruelty people: they passed a law saying that farmers had to equip all their sheep with shoes!
Well, it was a disaster. The sheep flatly refused to wear them, and every night they's discard them and the farmers would be spending all the next day recovering the shoes and putting them back on the sheep. There are a lot of lazy New Zealanders, so there were a lot of sheep around wearing odd shoes... sometimes for different types on one sheep, which looked appalling!There were murmurings that the fashion-conscious sheep were going to revolt "en masse", which is a bit of a worry, because the IQ of a sheep and of your average New Zealander is about the same, and there was no guarantee that the sheep wouldn't take over!
Anyway, the NZ government stepped in at the last moment to ward off the trouble, and repealed the shoes-for-sheep law. So, now, all over New Zealand, there are fences full of discarded shoes. They make quite a good wind break, so everyone is happy.
The bra fence is quite a different story. That was an initiative of the New Zealand Country Women's Association, who decided that it was indecent to have their milking cows running around with their private parts exposed, so the dairy farmers had to equip all cows over ten moths old with suitable udder-coverers. That law, actually, is working quite well, and the cows are perfectly content (the bulls are a bit put-out, however!) Problem is, there's been a drought north of Queenstown, so many of the farmers have had to kill and eat their milking cows, which means there are quite a few left-over bras just hanging around... literally. There are lots of fences just like the one you saw -- I guess you just weren't alert enough to see the others.
Well, it was a disaster. The sheep flatly refused to wear them, and every night they's discard them and the farmers would be spending all the next day recovering the shoes and putting them back on the sheep. There are a lot of lazy New Zealanders, so there were a lot of sheep around wearing odd shoes... sometimes for different types on one sheep, which looked appalling!There were murmurings that the fashion-conscious sheep were going to revolt "en masse", which is a bit of a worry, because the IQ of a sheep and of your average New Zealander is about the same, and there was no guarantee that the sheep wouldn't take over!
Anyway, the NZ government stepped in at the last moment to ward off the trouble, and repealed the shoes-for-sheep law. So, now, all over New Zealand, there are fences full of discarded shoes. They make quite a good wind break, so everyone is happy.
The bra fence is quite a different story. That was an initiative of the New Zealand Country Women's Association, who decided that it was indecent to have their milking cows running around with their private parts exposed, so the dairy farmers had to equip all cows over ten moths old with suitable udder-coverers. That law, actually, is working quite well, and the cows are perfectly content (the bulls are a bit put-out, however!) Problem is, there's been a drought north of Queenstown, so many of the farmers have had to kill and eat their milking cows, which means there are quite a few left-over bras just hanging around... literally. There are lots of fences just like the one you saw -- I guess you just weren't alert enough to see the others.
Apr 7th, 2005, 05:17 PM
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Aahhhh... now I understand. But I have to say the farmers weren't being very fair to the sheep. How could the sheep possibly be expected to wear mismatched pairs of shoes. Would you? They probably felt very silly . After all, most of us like to be in style. I don't blame them in the least for throwing the shoes over the fence. Had the farmer been thinking at all, he would have made sure the sheep had beautiful matching shoes.
As for the cows, Sorry, but I don't buy your reason. I think it must have been the bulls , yelling at the cows... "Take it off, take it all off" and they did, so much, want to please the bulls. So they all got together and started to swing the bras over their heads in a cirlular motion , ending with the bras being flung to the fence.
The cheering of the bulls could be heard for many kilometres.
Whew, I feel so much better , now that the mystery is solved.
As for the cows, Sorry, but I don't buy your reason. I think it must have been the bulls , yelling at the cows... "Take it off, take it all off" and they did, so much, want to please the bulls. So they all got together and started to swing the bras over their heads in a cirlular motion , ending with the bras being flung to the fence.
The cheering of the bulls could be heard for many kilometres.
Whew, I feel so much better , now that the mystery is solved.
Apr 7th, 2005, 07:37 PM
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Hey, I saw these too. The shoe fence is at Surat Bay in the Catlins and the Bra fence at the Crown Range. Seriously, no one can believe what Alan and Kodi say. LOL
[Applause Applause] Thanks for the laughter!
[Applause Applause] Thanks for the laughter!
Apr 8th, 2005, 04:11 PM
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The Missing Leg Backpackers just outside Egmont National Park has a bike fence. Brian, the owner, says the bikes tend to disappear around Christmas, but people always drop off more during the year.
Lee Ann
Lee Ann
Apr 9th, 2005, 02:35 PM
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John, I'd be outclassed in a stand-up act with Alan.
I hope our Kiwi friends will forgive this one:
An Australian ventriloquist visiting NZ walks into a small village and sees a local sitting on his porch patting his dog. He thinks he'll have a little fun, so he walk up to him and says "G'day, mate. Mind if I talk to your dog?"
Local: "The dog doesn't talk, you stupid Aussie."
Ventriloquist: "Let's see, shall we? Hello dog, how's it going, mate?"
Dog: "Doin' all right, thanks."
Local: (look of extreme shock)
Ventriloquist: "Is this bloke your owner?"
Dog: "Yep"
Ventriloquist: "How does he treat you, then?"
Dog: "Real good. I work hard, but he feeds me decent food and takes me
everywhere with him in the back of the truck."
Local: (look of utter disbelief)
Ventriloquist: "Mind if I talk to your horse?"
Local: "Uh, the horse doesn't talk either....I think."
Ventriloquist: "Hey horse, how's it going?"
Horse: "Pretty good, thanks."
Ventriloquist: "Is this your owner?"
Horse: "Sure is."
Ventriloquist: "How does he treat you?"
Horse: "Pretty good, actually. He's a good bloke, brushes me down often and keeps me in the barn to protect me from the elements."
Ventriloquist: "Mind if I chat to your sheep?"
Local: (turning pale) "That bloody sheep's a liar!"
I hope our Kiwi friends will forgive this one:
An Australian ventriloquist visiting NZ walks into a small village and sees a local sitting on his porch patting his dog. He thinks he'll have a little fun, so he walk up to him and says "G'day, mate. Mind if I talk to your dog?"
Local: "The dog doesn't talk, you stupid Aussie."
Ventriloquist: "Let's see, shall we? Hello dog, how's it going, mate?"
Dog: "Doin' all right, thanks."
Local: (look of extreme shock)
Ventriloquist: "Is this bloke your owner?"
Dog: "Yep"
Ventriloquist: "How does he treat you, then?"
Dog: "Real good. I work hard, but he feeds me decent food and takes me
everywhere with him in the back of the truck."
Local: (look of utter disbelief)
Ventriloquist: "Mind if I talk to your horse?"
Local: "Uh, the horse doesn't talk either....I think."
Ventriloquist: "Hey horse, how's it going?"
Horse: "Pretty good, thanks."
Ventriloquist: "Is this your owner?"
Horse: "Sure is."
Ventriloquist: "How does he treat you?"
Horse: "Pretty good, actually. He's a good bloke, brushes me down often and keeps me in the barn to protect me from the elements."
Ventriloquist: "Mind if I chat to your sheep?"
Local: (turning pale) "That bloody sheep's a liar!"
Apr 10th, 2005, 05:31 AM
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Neil, that's a great one. My son, who seems to collect jokes like I collect overdue accounts from Telstra, is always telling me great stories, most of them offensive to at least one racial group or another (sometimes everybody at once), and I never have anything to top his tales with. Until now, that is!
Not -- of course -- that I understood it, you understand!
Not -- of course -- that I understood it, you understand!
