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… an unexpected cria was born at Liston. J went out to feed the animals on an icy Sunday morning and saw what he described as “a periscope poking out of a small pile on the ground.” When he went to investigate, he found a baby alpaca sitting down, head poking up, placenta beside it. He is no animal mid-wife and was driven into a state of near panic. The mother, Rosie, wasn’t feeding it, and the weather seemed colder by the minute. An attempt to settle mother and child in the shed failed. He rang the vet, who connected him with a couple who breed alpacas and who arrived with information leaflets, a coat for a baby alpaca, instructions about preparing the coat for mother’s acceptance, and general reassurance. By this time the baby was suckling happily, and the coat was never used. But confidence in its survival was still not strong.
When I turned to Stanthorpe on Wednesday, J met me, saying “There’s something I need to show you.” And there it was. A tiny brown and white creature, long-legged and alert-eared, taking brief and frequent feeds from its mother. Having read the information on alpaca fertility cycles, J became paranoid about the boys impregnating Rosie again immediately, and began a contraceptive fence-strengthening project to keep them away from her.
And then, just when confidence was building, the snow began to fall, and the wind began to howl in a once-in-thirty-years weather event. It took us a while to figure out that alpacas live in totally inhospitable-to-us climates and that Rosie may well have chosen to unpack her offspring in ideal weather. Rosie and babcia Connie stayed close to the little one and they all sat in a sheltered spot under the eucalypts. The cria even frolicked on the freezing day when frolic was the furthest thing from my mind.
The day after the snow was sunny and warm, and, superstition fading, I was finally allowed to take photos. The baby is a week old.
pommepal said:
How exciting can life get Meg. The photo ops coming your way are endless. Well done to J in a very stress filled event. That little lama is so cute.
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morselsandscraps said:
And completely unexpected to my daughter, who only caught up with my messages yesterday.
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pommepal said:
Your daughter will have another baby, unexpectedly, to look after then.
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Heyjude said:
Well I had to look up cria! Not being an alpaca / llama expert I have never come across the word before. It is SO sweet! Do you know whether a boy or girl? And well done to J for not panicking, it doesn’t sound as though you were expecting this little one, I wish it and you every success.
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morselsandscraps said:
Sexing an alpaca/ llama hybrid is way beyond our level of expertise! Although we did resex the 2 year old yesterday, and assign it to the women’s quarters. Apparently gestation time can vary by as much as two months. I have a vague memory of F muttering something, but I think she was expecting to be home. J didn’t not panic, I can assure you! He’s been waiting for each day’s challenge ever since.
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Heyjude said:
You should follow PP’s idea and put yourselves out there for house-sitting now that you are alpaca experts!
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morselsandscraps said:
I don’t want to shove J into an early grave. He is extraordinarily stressed. Every day a new dilemma. He can read dogs and cats, but not alpaca / llama hybrids. (And I’ve been blithely misspelling llama, depending on an Ogden Nash silliness that I got wrong.)
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Lucid Gypsy said:
Phew, I’m so glad there’s a happy ending x:-)x
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morselsandscraps said:
Not half as glad as we are – and our daughter’s not due home until August 4. I don’t think she knows about the addition to her menagerie yet – she’s in the mountains of Slovakia.
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Suzanne said:
What a story. I had no idea you could get snow at Stanhope! What a winter. I am so glad the little alpaca is doing ok.
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morselsandscraps said:
Once in thirty years. The receptionist at the vet’s just told us she woke her kids at 1 am to see it, and the alpaca breeders on the other side of town got 4″. It’s hard to believe the little one is only a week old: it’s frolicking about and growing noticeably – and teasing granny.
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Suzanne said:
How wonderful to see new life in the depths of winter. Brrr – it’s a cold year. I reblogged the original angels post and created a new one as well. Hope you like it 🙂
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morselsandscraps said:
Thanks for reblogging. I’m feeling the cold too. I think I was away for winter last year. Thank goodness for the pile of firewood my daughter left.
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Suzanne said:
Yes this feels like the worst winter in a long time. Wood fires are definitely more cosy than my gas heater in a big open plan lounge – brrr.
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restlessjo said:
And I forgot to say (don’t I always?) that that name always makes me burst into a certain Bob Dylan song 🙂
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morselsandscraps said:
Can’t imagine which one!
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restlessjo said:
Life with you folks is complicated, isn’t it? Especially new life! 🙂 I suspect I’d cope even less well than J, not being a bushwacker kind of person, and I’d build the wonkiest fence you ever saw, should such a thing occur to me. But the end result of all this effort is a joy to behold 🙂
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morselsandscraps said:
Just discovered that they don’t challenge fences, so pressure’s off a bit. Also that we have alpaca-llama hybrids, not true alpacas. We just visited the breeders who were so helpful after the birth to return their information, to meet their flock and to encounter the poo-vac. I’m with you – my contribution is limited to keeping J fed and warm at night; letting him debrief as much as he needs to; and walking one dog.
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Rosemary Barnard said:
2015: Year of Adventure and Surprises. What does F think about this one?
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morselsandscraps said:
I don’t know that she knows yet. I emailed her a few days ago but they’re in the mountains, and she’s been awol.
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Rosemary Barnard said:
I should also have added that J deserves a great big congratulation for handling this event so well on his own without your backup at the time of the birth.
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