s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

For the last few weeks of April we had 3 alpaca living in the yard around the house. Marlett was the primary reason. She was too thin, so we wanted to supplement her- the grass around the house was best, plus extra food provided in a creep-feed. I also gave her vitamin B (dissolved Berocca tablets) to stimulate appetite and active-culture yoghurt to kick-start her rumen. She was also getting eye drops twice a day, as she had conjunctivitis in both eyes. Boo, her mother, had to be there too of course. We also put Blaze in with them to keep them company. She was a bit lame, and we figured she would be happy to not have to go up and down the back hill on her bendy old legs.

Familiarity breeds, well if not contempt, then at least a very laconic attitude. By the end of the week Boo was merrily (and greedily) eating from our hands, and had a good appetite for both carrot and apple.

Blaze was deeply fascinated by the “monkey house.” There was this big glass door where she could look in and see what we were doing. One evening we had friends over to watch a movie, and in the dark I saw her come up to the slider, look at us, look at the TV, and clearly think “just what are those monkeys doing?”

If it were not for the 2 wobbly wooden steps up into the room, I am sure she would have come in to explore. I saw her test the steps more than once, but with her bad legs she is a bit conservative.

Blaze is a funny animal. I would have loved to see her when she was young and spry, she must have been a real hoot.