We have two new paddock tenants.
Two Alpacas. They're not tame. They're very nervy. They have bad haircuts. They poo a lot. But they're so lovely. And gentle. And musical (they hum to themselves). So...how did this happen? After a year of joking about having Alpacas. We went to visit some at an Alpaca farm. We were told to get two boys. And if they fight...get them castrated. Several weeks later we discovered that a friend of a friend has some and they were willing to sell a couple. Long story short - they mainly have girls (though they did discover a couple of extra boys, hiding in plain sight, when they sheared them - and revealed their privates). We discussed boys vs girls. They said the girls seem to get on better. They have to separate their two older boys. They have no idea how old their 'pacas are. They have no idea of the type of wool (Suri or Huacaya). They have no idea if any are pregnant. They were just so laid back. We liked them. Anyway. We went back for a second visit last Friday. We rounded them up into a pen area. We stood and looked at them. Stu got pestered by cows. One of the girls with a Cria did a long spit (they can spit up to ten feet) and caught me pretty much square in the face. It was the serious spit (there are different types). Which means it stank to high heaven and consisted of bile and regurgitated grass. And it was on my face, in my hair and on my clothes. I managed to keep my stomach contents intact. And then, once recovered, I chose a couple of girls that I thought were pretty (a brown one as Stu prefers them and a white one that didn't have pink round its eyes...as Stu isn't keen). And before you know it...the young farmer offered (his Mum forced him) to drop them off at our house. In half an hour! So that was it. We have two girl Alpacas (who may or may not be pregnant - but with 11-12 month gestation we won't know for quite some time). Settling in... So as the girls aren't in the least bit tame I have a challenge on my hands. How to tame an Alpaca (without getting in the crossfire ever again)? Each day I go and sit on the paddock with them. Talking to them gently. Gradually they are coming to trust and relax around me. They no longer run away when I approach. I just get the sideways look...then they carry on eating.
It's going to take time. We have a more pressing issue to deal with though. One of them has rather long nails on her back feet. They need clipping. So I searched YouTube and obviously there are videos of how to trim Alpaca nails. However, the process involves at least three people and ropes - it we want to keep stress to a minimum (Alpaca stress that is). Anyway - until we find some willing volunteers I am not going to sit here and imagine everything that can possibly go wrong. So...what are we calling the girls? We've got that many girl pets that we're running out of names tbh. We already have:
We considered all the white / brown combos. But I find them a little obvious. So we decided to keep the tradition of normal names - from the family archives or just names we like - and have ended up with Freda and Minky. In other news...
Today's pics...meet the girls... Freda (white one) - the boss Minky (brown one) For anyone with over 50 eyesight...You can click on the images to see them better
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DebbieMe, my life, my family and my travels Archives
November 2022
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