Dog Days of Summer!

Phew.  Will these long, hot days ever end?  I'm sure we'll look back at this summer with fondness in the dead of winter but, for now, a 15°- 20° drop in temperature sure sounds attractive.

Otis spends his days behind a big fan and was too hot to get up and say "hello".  What better activity is there than sleeping through another steamy afternoon, waiting for the coolness of night to take over from the heat of the day.  I'm sure Maggie and Otis are extremely glad that they were shorn too, ridding them of their long, hot, shaggy fur.  Although neither one enjoys the experience, they would have been miserable if they'd been allowed to keep their coats.  Otis, especially, is mortified when he's shorn, but this year he didn't even run away and hide, like he has done in the past.  I guess even he knew it was for the best!

Spongebob seems to agree although he prefers to keep an eye on his pasture whilst resting his eyes.  Staying inside the barn provides shade, along with cool air from the fans, but there must be a slight breeze at ground level judging by how the alpacas are sleeping.

Britney's Boy still enjoys lying out in the pasture and he is also showing off his new haircut.  He was shorn just a couple of weeks ago.  Cleaning his fiber will be much easier next year as his birthing coat has now been removed. 

When a cria is born, amniotic fluid coats the fiber and it acts as a magnet for dirt, sticks, hay and anything else in the baby's environment.  Coupled with the fact that young alpacas, like young humans, like to roll around in the dirt (and anything else they can find) it will now be much easier at shearing time to sort his fiber ready for processing into yarn.

Fairly soon, it'll be time to start the barn chores but, until then, it seems a nap is in order.