Meet the newest members of our furred and feathered family.
Nina, and her six-month-old son, Inti. They are Peruvian Alpacas. Nina is pregnant again, and will have her next cria in either November or December.
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Here’s Inti, which is Quechuen (a language spoken by Peruvian natives) for the Sun, hiding behind his mama.
that WAS worth waiting for. And I would NEVER have guessed alpacas.
Hi Keres! I hate to use the dreaded “C” word… but dang, they are sooo cute! I’d like to hear more about how they are to keep … whether they are as intelligent and gentle as they look, etc. Or are they just putting on an act for the camera? 🙂
Hi IVG. I’m still getting to know them myself. They are by nature stand-offish and generally don’t like to be handled. But they are more than happy to nearly touch their nose to yours and breathe in your breath. This is their way of greeting each other.
Also, they hum at one another, and will hum back to you if you do a reasonable impersonation.
They’re beautiful — they look really soft, and have such gentle faces.
This is his baby coat. As he gets older his coat will come in pure black, just like mama’s.
There’s certainly no competing or keeping up with you.
Nobody here but us dogs.
It’s not a contest – really. We figure we might add a few more chickens, and get the Aplaca herd up to a maximum of six, and we’ll probably keep one of Luna’s pups. But we don’t want to have so many animals that we can’t care for them all properly.
It’s not a contest because I’m too old, too lazy and too sane. 😉
You’ve got me beat there, since I’m a bit iffy in the sanity department.
Both of those dogs have exactly the same expression! 🙂
they’re thinking exactly the same thing: when’s dinner?
So is Sniff down there scouting out something to eat? Great pics of all the dogs… they’re lucky they live with you and Jim, and have such a fabulous place to romp about in the woods!
The one on the bottom looks like a unicorn in a magical woods.
Top photo low vision interpretation: Hogan sneaks past Sargeant Schulz.
Nina is eight years old. Her official name is “Inca Black Queen,” but we’re calling her Nina, which is the Quechuan word for fire.
She’s was sheared recently, and doen’t have much of a fleece at the moment.
Wow!, cool critters, related to LLamas aren’t they?
Worth the wait.
Peace
There are two native cammelids in South America – the Vicuna and the Guanaco.
From breeding and cross-breeding these two wild species, Andean people developed the taller, heavier llama for use as a pack animal, and the smaller and woolier alpaca for wool production.
They can all be bred to one another, and some large alpacas are clearly part llama.
Wild Vicunas were captured and shorn. Their hair is the finest in the world, and historically, only Incan royalty were allowed to own garments made from it.
Aha – I knew of vicuna coats, but didn’t realise they came from vicunas! Always learning things on the internets…
and while out I took this photo of Luna looking at the Alpacas with her best “why can’t I play with them?” face.
this blurry photo of a Scarlet Robin flying around in the Alpaca yard.
That’s agreat picture keres. I wouldn’t even know what to put my camera on to capture a shot like that.
I just use autofocus most of the time. And I have a Fine Arts degree in Photography.
It’s not cheating if you know what you’re doing. 😉
Lucy had her first experience with the kiddie pool this weekend. It was very exciting.
Also, I just think this is a super funny pic. I love it when pet pictures make them look like their heads are gigantic — though to be fair, Lucy’s head is pretty gigantic.
First experiences with water are always unpredictable – unless you have a Lab.
very much a swamp dog. If there is a mud puddle anywhere in or near the yard, she will find it and muck around in it. She loved the pool, too, though I think jumping in and out — and trampling my garden in the process — was her favorite part.
Can’t wait to take her on her first trip to the river. It’s still a bit high right now, and the current is too much for a still-sorta-stupid puppy.
My long lost, Willow, would tear up kiddy pools. The hard plastic ones were no match. She’d get in, and then start clawing and digging at the bottom. The kids would scream and run around with their hair on fire, but Willow loved to dig in the water.
I love seeing pictures of Lucy, Spit. 🙂
t’s hard to get detail in the black – it absorbs so much light.
Nina has the most amazing face … and her neck is so graceful! And the brown coat on Inti is amazing.
Because this is how I feel this morning…
And these two critters get to stay home and sleep…I’ve got to go finish the semester…I wish I hadn’t quit caffeine
My sister’s three week old kittens. I don’t think they have names.
I could swear they are pandas wearing kitten suits… 😉
© orlowsky/getty
The big birds are amazing.
Peace
It’s been wet and cold this last week, but it was dry last night so Luna slept outside – and dug a bit of a hole to sleep in.
(OK, so I got a little carried away with Photoshop.)
She says Luna is laughing 🙂
Yes, it does look like she’s laughing. Since I knew she was yawning, I couldn’t make the leap myself. Thank your daughter for giving me new eyes on that one.
who need your Albert “fix.” Here’s Mr. Crankypants settling in for his day-long nap.
who needed that fix, thank you.