Work was okay today. There's a lot of stress working with kids that everybody else has thrown up their hands over. And so many expectations. We are supposed to get them through high school AND those nasty Regents exams. Good luck...but we try. Heard about bad weather coming back and wouldn't you know. Pulled up ole' weather.com and there it is. Temps dropping now, 3-5 inches tonight with more in the morning. We'll see. Soon as I left the building I could feel it - penetrating cold and damp, feels just like snow. Bought dog food on the way home. Need cat food, too, but I can share my turkey soup with them. Matt would be thrilled if the pot was not there when he got home on Friday. Apartment cold as ice, got the doggies out and came back to tackle the stove. It's cheery and bright now, so I will pull my ski pants on and get out to the barn. Looked good from what I could see. Yesterday I was shocked to find Chris, my big red llama, covering a yearling lamb - as in breeding her! That's why male llamas must be gelded before being put in with sheep - they will try to mate with sheep and smother them in the process. I saw him nudging her as she lay flat, as if trying to revive her. Then her circled around and mounted her! I dropped my bag and jumped over the fence to shoo him away. The sheep were standing back, afraid of this odd behavior on the part of their big brother. Chris jumped up but didn't get far enough away for my liking. Llamas can get what is called "berserk llama syndrome" and try to mount humans. This usually happens with overly handled and spoiled llamas, and Chris is neither. I dragged the lamb away and put her behind a fence length in a lambing jug. She was revived by the time I put out hay. Better go check the east end for lambs...and make sure my llama is behaving himself. I don't have anywhere to capture him right now. The goat does are in heat and I suspect that triggered this behavior.
No comments:
Post a Comment