April Fools' Day: The best West Country gags for 2024
April Fools' Day traditionally sees everyone trying to catch out friends and strangers with gags, pranks and silly stories designed to be almost as realistic as possible.
Traditionally, the pranks should only last until midday - and anyone trying to pull a stunt after 12pm is, themselves, the fool.
April Fools' Day is marked in various countries across the world and is said to date from the changing of the calendar system, with many people having been caught out on April 1st.
Here is a roundup of the best ones we’ve seen in the West Country:
Sheep being used to rescue people out on Dartmoor
Dartmoor Search and Rescue has been trialling sheep as a working animal within its Ashburton team as a new search asset.
Four crossbreed sheep have been working within the team to help them find casualties in difficult terrain.
Team vet, Ashley Rubens, said the sheep offer additional animal support when the wind conditions were not favourable for the team's search dogs.
He said: "They have a reasonable sense of smell but they have almost 360 degree vision so they have an advantage over dogs with that.
“They are the perfect animal for searching, they're domesticated and well-adapted to our hill conditions.
"You don't need to carry food for them and perhaps they might be more reassuring for a casualty.
"When sheep were first mentioned we were a little surprised but actually it makes a lot of sense. Sheep are all weather animals, they have hard hooves so are much more protected on the granite rock."
It’s hoped the rescue sheep will also highlight the team’s current fundraising plan to replace one of their ageing Land Rover Defenders.
The team went all out with this joke, even creating a video showing the sheep in action.
Cheddar cheese ice cream at Wookey Hole Caves
Wookey Hole and Ford Farm, the makers of Wookey Hole Cave-Aged Cheddar Cheese, have joined forces with the beloved family brand, Marshfield Farm Ice Cream to launch a limited-edition, savoury ice cream flavour - Wookey Hole Cave-Aged Cheddar Ice Cream.
This unique ice cream has been handcrafted in small batches by the expert makers at Marshfield Farm, by combining its delicious double-cream base with the world-famous Wookey Hole Cave-Aged Cheddar, celebrated for its creamy nutty notes, developed through an ancient limestone cave-aging process.
This very special ice cream promises to enchant the palates of cheese aficionados everywhere. It’s the perfect combination for everyone who struggles to choose between a dessert and the cheese board for pudding!
The unique new flavour will be produced in small batches and available exclusively at Wookey Hole Caves.
Police supercars in Wiltshire
Specialist Operations at Wiltshire Police shared their newest vehicle on social media.
They said: “The end of the financial year meant we had a few pennies left over, as such we have purchased a new vehicle to head up our commercial vehicle unit.
“The Police McLaren has strict deployment criteria meaning it will only deal with HGV enforcement.”
In the comments section they said: “We will never make master forgers.”