OUR SMALL HERD

Our original four boys came from Ardo Alpacas in Aberdeenshire. We are not alpaca breeders and have our boys purely as pets. Our experience is that you don't need to be a breeder and that a 'batchelor herd' can give much pleasure to the owner. We have 5 acres including our big garden and grazing for the boys, 15 miles north of Inverness, Scotland. I spin, knit, felt and crochet with the fleece from the boys.

Clicking!!

Just a reminder that clicking on (most) of the photos will show them greatly enlarged.

Sunday 15 May 2011

It's the pits!

At times this week the weather has been the pits!  We went from T shirts and shorts  back to woolly jumpers  and jackets as a dusting of snow appeared on the hills and Friday saw hailstones. On the days when the sun shone however, it was nice and the boys enjoyed it - they don't like hailstones!  Another type of pit is the 'sand pit' and these are frequently used by the boys.  Here are L to R, Gully, Gaucho, Rufus, Wee Eck and Fidget enjoying the feel of the sand.  We are often asked why we put sand pits in the paddocks and it's because we read somewhere ages ago that alpacas like them.  Sand is much cooler than grass on hot days, they seem to like the feeling of the sand on their pads and they love rolling around in the sand.  They also like playing 'pushing and shoving' games in the sand. 
Rufus (rear) and Fyta are enjoying a lie down but Wee Eck is intent on getting into the pit.   He looks as if he is saying something threatening to Fyta, like  "Move, big man, or else!"  Nobody messes with Wee Eck!
See what I mean?
The boys look like average sized alpacas until they get on their hind legs and rear up, then they look more like bears!  Gully and his pal Gaucho engage in some macho activities. 
It's all too much like hard work for Fyta (L) and Fergus who move to another pit for a bit of peace and quiet!  Finally, our community newspaper has produced an article and a couple of photos of the boys this week, which is nice.

1 comment:

  1. Nice action pics Shirley. The way they roll in the pits is comical - it looks so awkward, and not quite what they want to achieve - once to the left, once to the right, maybe back to the left - that'll do and a shake off!

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