Curious Adventures

As I was working in the garden this week, I noticed that several of the dams were looking towards the neighbors' 30-acre field: there was an animal in there, just on the other side of the fence, and not a deer. Hmmm, an alpaca... but I couldn't tell which one it was other than brown with no white on her face. (I suspected the precocious Chantica or Aymara.) As I moved quickly in that direction, I considered my options -- maybe not enough time to go up to barn to get a halter, but the herding tape would do.

So I untied the webbing tape from the post where I use it, took it down to the corner area, and found a place to climb through the barbed wire, which is what Ruana must've done since I could see no breaks in the fence. I tied the tape to a fence post and around some trees to box her in. Not quite a year old, she's a bit skittish so a halter wouldn't have worked very well with her anyway.

Ruana was staying near the herd, wanting to get back to them but still exploring the new area. And of course they were all wanting to know how She got over There, could they come, too?

I pried open the very loosest of the barbed wire with some branches and stretched an opening for her; I slowly moved behind her so she would go that way and see it. She had had enough adventure and stepped back through to the safety of her herd. Whew!

I collected the herding tape, climbed back through myself and found several more branches to weave between the wires, taking off the slack. Mike can pound some t-posts in and wire it up better, but that will keep them safe and at bay for awhile.

Killdeer nest on the ground

A friend had called just as this scene was unfolding and she stayed on the line with me while I talked through what I was doing. Afterwards, walking back among the alpacas, I heard a killdeer squawking at them. I had noticed its distinctive call the day before, too. I was close enough to see that the bird was doing her lame-wing routine, so I walked slowly in that vicinity until I spied its ground nest tucked beside a fallen branch.

When Mike called me on his break from running the counting machines at Elections, he asked how my day was going so far...


Two days later I returned to check on the nest. No squawking, and no eggs -- they had hatched, cleaned house, and run away!




Life on the farm!