When I mentioned two weeks ago that we were going to an Alpaca Farm, my friend Judy said "I've never seen an Alpaca!" Well, of course she hasn't, because Judy is blind. However, it sparked the idea that we needed to rectify that! I contacted Jane of
Land of Green Ginger Alpacas, where I had spun Alpaca fleece during their National Alpaca Farms Open House in September, to see if we could arrange a farm visit. Jane mentioned that they'd be having another open house today, so we were welcome to come out, and I could even do some spinning! That was perfect, since I had begun spinning a bobbinful of Ginger colored Huacaya Alpaca on my antique Saxony yesterday while at the St Augustine Spin In (I'll post more on that when I get copies of the pictures). So, I hopped in the car (the wheel was already there), and headed off to pick up Judy. For most of the afternoon, I spun, she knitted, we chatted with V who showed up at the same time we did, and had a lovely time. Once the crowds (sometimes 20-30 people at a time!!) left, Jane and Steve went to get two of the boys, put harnesses on them, and brought them out into the yard so Judy could meet them. The first Alpaca she met was Opie - short for Optimus Prime... Here she is just getting to meet him:
Feeling the head and ears to see what his face looked like:
And now down the neck to the back. Opie was VERY patient and SUCH a good boy the entire time he was with Judy. Alpaca are naturally extremely skittish about having their heads and necks touched, because that is how they fight each other, by attacking the neck. So, you can imagine the astonishment while he sat perfectly still:
Judy bent down and touched his legs to see what they were like and he lifted his foot for her without any irritation or stress. Again, their legs are only touched when it's time to trim their hooves, so not a favorite place to be touched. Steve commented that he won't even do that willingly for THEM! Proceeding on, she checked out the tail end of Opie:
And back to the blanket. You notice that hand really digging in to the fleece on his back. A testament to how thick and soft his fleece was!
And back to the neck. See that look on Jane's face? That's utter shock at how amazingly good Opie was with Judy.
Ahhh...and time and again I see in my pictures, Judy kept coming back to that hand buried in Opie's blanket... and yet you can see on his face, he is completely calm and not remotely stressed.
We did visit with a second alpaca... He wasn't quite as keen on the experience as Opie was. While Judy was petting this guy, I gently reached out to touch Opie's blanket and pet him a bit. Even with that simple motion, he shied from me just a little, and seemed somewhat anxious.
After meeting her new friend, Judy came back to pet Opie again. And even though he'd shied from me in the meantime, he was as docile as can be when Judy approached him again!!!
Overall, I would say we both had a WONDERFUL time at the farm. Judy and Opie seem to be fast friends for life! We did try to go in to feed the girls, but they had a lot of attention and quite a few treats throughout the day from the various visitors, so by that time they weren't really having any part of it. So, we'll have to go back again on a day when we can see the girls too!
Feeling the head and ears to see what his face looked like:
And now down the neck to the back. Opie was VERY patient and SUCH a good boy the entire time he was with Judy. Alpaca are naturally extremely skittish about having their heads and necks touched, because that is how they fight each other, by attacking the neck. So, you can imagine the astonishment while he sat perfectly still:
Judy bent down and touched his legs to see what they were like and he lifted his foot for her without any irritation or stress. Again, their legs are only touched when it's time to trim their hooves, so not a favorite place to be touched. Steve commented that he won't even do that willingly for THEM! Proceeding on, she checked out the tail end of Opie:
And back to the blanket. You notice that hand really digging in to the fleece on his back. A testament to how thick and soft his fleece was!
And back to the neck. See that look on Jane's face? That's utter shock at how amazingly good Opie was with Judy.
Ahhh...and time and again I see in my pictures, Judy kept coming back to that hand buried in Opie's blanket... and yet you can see on his face, he is completely calm and not remotely stressed.
We did visit with a second alpaca... He wasn't quite as keen on the experience as Opie was. While Judy was petting this guy, I gently reached out to touch Opie's blanket and pet him a bit. Even with that simple motion, he shied from me just a little, and seemed somewhat anxious.
After meeting her new friend, Judy came back to pet Opie again. And even though he'd shied from me in the meantime, he was as docile as can be when Judy approached him again!!!
Overall, I would say we both had a WONDERFUL time at the farm. Judy and Opie seem to be fast friends for life! We did try to go in to feed the girls, but they had a lot of attention and quite a few treats throughout the day from the various visitors, so by that time they weren't really having any part of it. So, we'll have to go back again on a day when we can see the girls too!
No comments:
Post a Comment