Well Helen ( Red Barn Alpacas ) came through with the photo of Cocoa's brand new cria (above) out of our former boy Valentino
What a cutie!!! You can see photos of the actual breeding that produces this adorable alpaca cria in this post from last year:
Post on breeding Cocoa
Good work Cocoa and Val - especially on the girl thing. Those girls are ever so useful! Val now lives at:
Endless Mountains Alpacas in Northern Pennsylvania
Now we just have to keep waiting for Cocoa's pal, Cotton to deliver her cria out of Nickleby
Meanwhile, back at Wildwood Alpacas our friends, Sue & Judy have acquired a new girl the easy way (by buying her) and she turns out to be out of our old girl, Latte and other Kate's boy, Houdini. She is, "Pretty Penny."
So am a bitterly jealous now that I have no pretty alpacas living in my barn anymore? I'll say! However, we DO have creatures living in our barn now. They are just different creatures. Who was it who said that Nature abhors a vacuum? So true. Here is one creature that has moved into our little barn and we'll be moving his behind right back out again - Mr. Groundhog:
Looks cute doesn't he? (or she?) but the hole he makes is not so cute:
And, who thinks they absolutely OWN the big barn and will dive bomb us furiously when we dare to go in there? Barn swallows. They eat a lot of bugs so we tolerate their bad behavior.
If birds eat bugs, who do we need to eat the mousies and their larger cousins? Our pals the snakes of course. People don't believe me when I say that my crazy husband, Tom is always grabbing these guys by the tail and just flinging them out into the field when they venture somewhere they don't belong but here is the proof - what a nut!
The flinging doesn't hurt them folks! They slither right on back and don't even get vindictive or bratty like those barn swallows - Thank God - because if snakes chased us around, we couldn't like them as well as we do. They have excellent manners - even when harrassed by crazy people!
And then there is the creature we call "the mystery guest." Somebody has turned over a hay holder in the barn and then made a little bed for themselves just as brazen as you please. I plan to sneak up there one night and try to see if this is a cat, possum or raccoon but I am betting on raccoon. They are pretty pushy guys.
Finally, I know I go on about alpaca shearing too much but it bothers me that so many people don't have a proper shearing plan and then call us, desperate for shearing, when my husband cannot shear anymore due to health problems. Tom used to do many of these "mercy shearing jobs" just for the sake of the alpacas involved but now he can't, so other alpaca breeders need to learn to shear and take these jobs and people who need shearing need to make their plan early and have backup in case their traveling shearer dumps them. That happens folks! If you want to see before and after photos of our last year's shearing or read about what you need to know about shearing please go here:
Alpaca Shearing Info.
The only shearing we did this year was our kooky dog, Blair, and he was NOT happy about it. Here he is all happy and furry:
My sheep friend, Linda, says that Blair is able to smile in a mischievous way just like a person. Here he is hairless and looking a little put out about the removal of his stinky, dog fur:
In case you are wondering, Yes, this IS the bad dog that licked the knitting teacher, Janet Szabo's mayonnaise in this previous post:
Dog Licked Mayonnaise
As a hand spinner, I am always asked whether I spin dog fur. No! I love my dog but I don't want to wear dog fur. Sorry.
Please, Cotton!, have your cria soon - I can't stand the suspense!
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