As part of what might be called a rheaguard action, the birds were recruited to frighten foxes away from Mrs Lamb’s beloved purebred chickens. “I’d heard that foxes hate them, and won’t go near anywhere with rheas, so I thought they might be the answer to my prayers,” she said. “The first one was called Clumsy, and although he was exactly that I rather liked him and got some more, and then Baby was the last of the bunch.