Alpacas

 

A cousin and her husband raise alpacas for themselves and others. Today was shearing and gathering of the fleece.

My old medical courier comrade, “Santa” and his crew came to observe as did DrJim along with SLW and TLG. TLG seemed a bit overwhelmed but did well for a four year old. Santa's pic at the bottom.

Waiting. Alpacas generally don’t bite but have a nasty spit. A sock helps.

The peacocks were penned next to the shearing and they were not pleased. Not pictured is the full sized Llama who acts as a guard. Llamas will take on and beat a coyote or stray dog.

There was a break for lunch which Sisty organized and then rain. One of the shearing crew, an Apache, started praying. Worked, the rain moved on.

Just to be clear, I am a total dude when it comes to the Camelidae. Contact my cousin with your questions.

https://www.openherd.com/farms/3884/hummin-and-grinnin-alpacas

Among the Camelids

A cousin and her husband have seventy alpacas and a few llamas. Today was the start of shearing season and they asked me to take some photos with their camera. Of course, I also took some with mine.

Sonny, the boss.

The shearing.

Socks on the noses stop them from biting. Alpacas aren't happy campers when they are being sheared.

The product

The herd

My cousin "cowboying up"

In her mobility scooter with her "grabber" working along with everyone else.

Shasa, the Great Pyrenese. She never leaves the alpacas. Along with the llamas, protects the alpacas from coyotes and feral dogs.

Bernese mountain dogs. Protect the farmstead from two legged scavengers. A big problem in the area.

A Pyerenese/St Bernard mix, Shasa's future  replacement.

From this

To this

Never forget the weather.

Hope you enjoyed these. Format is wonky as Blogger and I seem to be having "issues". Tis a poor workman who blames his tools.