A student who graduated university with a degree in music and English is putting his skills to good use in a Norfolk field, after Jamie Fox, 22, who recently graduated from Bangor University, got employed as a human scarecrow.
Jamie Fox will use a ukulele, accordion and cowbell to frighten away troublesome partridges. While his fellow students may be pulling pints, going travelling or desperately seeking their first professional role, Mr. Fox will earn £250 a week patrolling the ten-acre field.
Wearing a bright orange coat, he will play the musical instruments in a bid to finally scare off the hardy birds, which ordinary scarecrows cannot perturb. His employer, a farmer from Aylsham, Norfolk, even warned him to “bring a deckchair and a good book” for his days in the oilseed rape field, where he will also practice his ukulele in the hopes of getting a full-time job in music.
Mr. Fox, who says his friends are “slightly envious” of his role, is now saving to pay for a trip to New Zealand next year. “I get to sit and read for a lot of the time but whenever I see the partridges, I have to get up and scare them off,” he told the BBC.
“I ring a cowbell and I’ve even played the accordion, but the ukulele doesn’t seem to have any effect on them.” The farmer said to me, “Bring a deckchair and a good book.” A couple of my friends in busier, more generously-paid jobs, are slightly envious.”
Farmer William Youngs said he resorted to hiring his human scarecrow after more ordinary methods of frightening the partridges away did not succeed. “The only way to get rid of them is to walk down the field and push them off,” he said. “Jamie’s doing a good job. You can really see the difference.”
Content contributed by staff member, reported from Norfolk, UK, sourced by bbc.co.uk
