Drama in the Barn

Well, not quite the twice a week, like promised.  I'll do my best to get on a schedule but we've been so busy in the Shoppe, I run out of time - and I have so much to write about.

Of course, getting to work (some say play) with the babies is the best part of the day and Little Bit is enjoying attention more and more as the weather turns colder.  The babies are starting to show interest in eating hay now and are staying close to their mamas to stay warm and dry. 

We did have some drama in the barn this week.  When I arrived, Maggie and Otis our guardian dogs, were conspicuously quiet.  Even when shoppers came by, their signature, extremely loud, barking was noticably absent. 

On going to investigate, I discovered Otis outside looking depresssed while Maggie was inside a closed up area of the barn.  Neither dog could be tempted out of their respective pens so further investigations seemed needed.  Heading to the back of the barn, I found Ozzie, one of our yearling baby boys, looking very upset.  His head was down and he was pacing the yard making distressed cries as he went.  Not another alpaca was to be seen. 

For the "new to alpaca" readers, alpacas are herd animals and get extremely upset and, if left long enough can even die, if taken away from the rest of the herd.  What had happened was a gate had blown shut in the wind separating Ozzie from his buddies.  Ozzie eventually lay down next to the pen with the bigger boys in it and, funnily enough, the same pen that Otis had chosen to guard.  A very pitiful sight it was!

On entering his pen, Ozzie came to greet me and followed me to the gate as I pushed it open.  All his pen mates, who'd been stuck in the field, immediately rushed through and crowded around as if they hadn't seen him in a week.  Lots of bleating - especially from Zanzebar who is never shy about making his voice heard and the happiness to be back together was obvious.

So all's well that ends well.  Ozzie was immediately content on being reunited with his pen mates and I left them all catching up with each other.  When you think that they cannot have been separated for more than a few hours and the joy they had to be back together, it just shows what great animal alpacas are.

As I re-entered the shoppe, a car came down the lane and Otis and Maggie greeted the visitors with loud voices.  Everything is back to normal!