Then There Were Six
June 19th 2011 21:46
Farewelled three more pacas. Cappy, Bob and Peter Pan have all gone to live in Perth. That's Perth, Tasmania, not Perth, Western Australia.
A lovely family have bought them as companions to a wether that they have. They had two but one died. They're unsure what happened to him - this is often the case. Alpacas, like other herd animals are extremely stoic and won't let on when anythings up with them.
They'll make out everything's good and keep up with the herd for as long as possible. In a wild herd situation, this prevents them being picked off by predators who naturally hone in on the weakest animals in the herd, babies, aged, sick or injured - as these make for an easy meal.
So, if an alpaca gets sick, often the first you'll know about it is he's dead. Of course, there are plenty of things that can take them out, like a snake bite, eating a poisonous plant, or getting stuck in fencing etc, but unless there's some obvious cause, or you want to pay a stack of money for an autopsy (often inconclusive anyway), sometimes they just die and you deal with it.
Anyway, back to the boys. I firmly believe that alpacas make friends within the herd, so I'm super happy that the family who bought them wanted to take all three boys, as it means they'll get to stay together. I'm sure their lone paca will also be much happier to have a few mates around too as while they do fine in pairs - herd animals prefer safety in numbers and a bigger herd is going to make them feel more secure.
I will miss them, especially Bob as he's such a funny character and even when just one goes, you notice that space out in the paddock and find yourself scanning to find them before it registers that they're not there anymore. But, it is time for us to be doing other things now and I know they'll be well loved in their new home.
Still sad though
Cappy, Bob & Peter Pan
A lovely family have bought them as companions to a wether that they have. They had two but one died. They're unsure what happened to him - this is often the case. Alpacas, like other herd animals are extremely stoic and won't let on when anythings up with them.
They'll make out everything's good and keep up with the herd for as long as possible. In a wild herd situation, this prevents them being picked off by predators who naturally hone in on the weakest animals in the herd, babies, aged, sick or injured - as these make for an easy meal.
So, if an alpaca gets sick, often the first you'll know about it is he's dead. Of course, there are plenty of things that can take them out, like a snake bite, eating a poisonous plant, or getting stuck in fencing etc, but unless there's some obvious cause, or you want to pay a stack of money for an autopsy (often inconclusive anyway), sometimes they just die and you deal with it.
Anyway, back to the boys. I firmly believe that alpacas make friends within the herd, so I'm super happy that the family who bought them wanted to take all three boys, as it means they'll get to stay together. I'm sure their lone paca will also be much happier to have a few mates around too as while they do fine in pairs - herd animals prefer safety in numbers and a bigger herd is going to make them feel more secure.
I will miss them, especially Bob as he's such a funny character and even when just one goes, you notice that space out in the paddock and find yourself scanning to find them before it registers that they're not there anymore. But, it is time for us to be doing other things now and I know they'll be well loved in their new home.
Still sad though
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Comment by katyzzz
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Comment by Rosemary
Alpaca Notes - Tasmania
Great to see you're still orbling along too!