A wise alpaca knows best

I had to return to the day job today so from half past seven this morning until seven o'clock this evening I was absent from the confines of the mighty Patou herd. Sue and Angus were here for most of the day and I knew the alpacas would be looked after well.

I don't know if I'm old fashioned or a bit of a prat but I feel that I am the protector of the mighty Patou herd, when I say herd I am including Sue and Angus.........and the mad labs, and Bob the cat and the chickens, Betty, Cindy and Lulu. I just feel that I am the man of the family/herd. I am the biggest, the strongest, I feel it is my duty to protect, watch over, basically be the hit man for the herd.

If Angus falls over and hurts himself I feel that I should have been there to catch him, if he is hurt by another child at school, accidental or not, I feel that I should be there to prevent it. If Sue is out and for whatever reason gets upset, annoyed, feels threatened or distressed I should be there to sort it out. It is my job, I am there to protect and look after. Old fashioned? Maybe, but that is how it is in my tiny mind.

So what is the point I here you clamour? Well we were lucky enough to have three healthy cria born this week, all new additions to the Patou herd. First was the arrival of the cria we had been most anticipating, Lily's cria.

She has been named Patou Amelie and is, in our humble biased opinion, beautiful.


The second to be born was our little black boy Patou Alacazam. Sparkly, handsome, strong and as black as a black thing at the bottom of a very deep black hole in a very dark place.

And lastly, born yesterday was our little Killawasi boy Patou Barney, pictured here with the future herdmaster. As you can see his mother , Dee, is the calmest most gentle of alpacas and was quite happy for us to have a good look at the little fellow, even accepting a stroke from Angus.

Angus gives all the new arrivals a cuddle and he was quite taken by Barney who seemed to have inherited his mothers tolerance!

Which brings me to the reason for the title of this blog entry. I arrived home as I have said at 7pm. I sat in the living room with Sue and Angus chatting about our days, all the time watching the wind thrashing the trees and shrubs around outside. It was blowing a gale, I was worried about Barney. Yes he had a coat on but should I bring him up into the field shelter? After half an hour I was out to assess the situation. The wind was strong but it was a cool westerly wind and not a cold one. Nevertheless I was worried that even with his coat on it might be a bit chilly for him. I found Dee and Barney half way down the maternity paddock. Dee lying down with Barney skipping round her. As I stood next to her the wind tugged at my hair, alright I'm an egghead but you know what I mean! However when I crouched down to say hello to Barney I realised that Dee had them situated in a little hollow. From my waist down there was no wind. Dee had her little boy completely sheltered. I knew then that he was just going to be fine. Dee, at eleven years old is a wise old alpaca.