Ten per cent of Britons cannot identify a sheep

Tuesday 31st March 2009

One in ten Britons don't know what this
animal is, according to a survey by travelodge

A poll undertaken by budget hotel chain, Travelodge, reveals that one in ten Britons cannot identify a sheep.

An incredible poll which garnered the opinions of 3,000 Britons also showed that over 50% of adults think the countryside is boring, while a third of Britons haven't even considered taking a trip to some of Britain's rural areas.

John Tribe, professor of tourism from University of Surrey said: "It is alarming news that over half of the nation thinks the British countryside is boring and there is nothing to do or see there.

"Maybe this is because in the last decade Britons have preferred to holiday abroad and as a result; they have forgotten the UK is abundant with great rural holiday locations."

The poll asked a series of questions on the Countryside Code with interesting results:-

• 17% of adults said they knew the British Countryside Code.
• 24% thought (wrongly) that they had the right to pick wild flowers in the countryside.
• 10% thought it was safe to eat all different berries and fungus they found growing in the countryside.
• 32% had difficulty identifying a pheasant
• 22% could not identify a hare. One in 10 adults thought it was a deer
• 12% of adults thought a stag was a reindeer
• 10% could not identify a sheep
• 42% could not identify an otter
• 20% could not identify a weasel
• 83% could not identify the common Bluebell flower
• 44% could not identify the popular oak tree
• 74% could not identify a horse chestnut tree
• 71% could not identify a pine tree

Travelodge is offering over half a million £19 and £29 rooms in rural locations around the UK in an effort to inform the British public on the attractions available outside their own front door.