Expanding the Herds

This has been an eventful week. Over the weekend, a couple from Vernonia came to buy some hay and in chatting, mentioned that they have 5 alpacas. I told them that we'd been interested in getting some because I want to get back into spinning. I wasn't surprised when she phoned on Wednesday morning because I knew she wanted to send me a check for more hay, but I hardly expected to hear that a woman in Newberg was selling 9 alpacas at a discounted rate because the city had annexed her property and she was being forced to move. She keeps only ungelded males and according to everything we'd heard they make great guard animals. And the fleeces are incredibly soft!

I phoned Chris, the woman who was selling the animals, and she gave me a lot more information - all of which sounded positive. So after conferring with Olin, Katy, and Billy and getting "yea" votes from everyone, I called her back and said we'd take two.

Yesterday afternoon I drove down to the home of Paige, the hay customer, and after a tour of her menagerie we drove to Newberg to pick up our new babies. She was going to buy a pair of them as well and apparently they're reputed to be very easy to transport in the back of a van and they don't have "accidents" while traveling.

Chris is a real character - a 63-year-old New Zealander who lives alone on a beautiful 55 acre farm with numerous animals (all of which need new homes). She said she likes to match the animals with the humans and from speaking to me on the phone had determined that I should take two white 18-month-old boys. I fell in love instantly. They're generally pretty shy and you have to let them introduce themselves to you but one of them immediately came and began checking me out and seemed to think I was okay because I was allowed to pet his nose. His friend, however, kept his distance and watched me warily.

The drive home was memorable. We had taken Paige's Yukon and she put a large piece of plastic in the back (just in case). The animals were loaded but did not settle down, and due to stress began spitting cud all over the car. We found some on the ceiling and on the rear-view mirror! As we drove, we expected them to lie down but they remained on their feet for the entire 45 minute drive to Paige and Jim's house, freely letting loose with their bowels and bladders the entire time. This is NOT supposed to happen with these animals. The poor things then had to stand in it while we drove and we had the enjoyable experience of getting acquainted with alpaca aromas. When we got to their house we picked up my car and Jim drove the Yukon up here to unload the babies. Paige said as soon as he got behind the wheel, they lay down and were calm for the entire trip. She claims it's because she's a terrible driver (I didn't notice it, but as we were chatting the whole time I wasn't exactly paying attention). It was dark when we got here so we unloaded them directly into the barn where 6 goats very warily circled and inspected the new arrivals. Erin stayed in the back of the barn - she didn't get it.

They all seem to be getting along fine today, although every so often they seem to remember that something's new and everyone starts the circling and observing process. The only real difficulty we've had so far is the alpacas chasing Eppie out of the corral. Apparently they considered her to have predator status and they showed me exactly how well they do their job. They tore after her and poor Eppie didn't know whether to escape through the fence or try to defend herself. She was terrified and I had to do a lot of comforting afterward, but if any bad guys ever try to gain entrance to the corral, I have no fears that they'll be able to make off with any of our little ones. These guys mean business!

We haven't decided on names yet. Katy and I discussed the possibility of Bruiser and Fang, but they're so darn cute it seems mean to label them with those monikers. Now we're considering Greek gods. Any ideas?