Regular visitors to our Nova Scotia oceanfront vacation rentals at Second Paradise are used to the sight of the 5 llamas that arrived a little over a year ago to take over the pasture management on our seaside property. But recently, people have been doing a double take as they look out over our fields. The llamas seem to have duplicated themselves, but in miniature.
Is this a new generation of llamas on site? Or have the recent South Shore rains shrunk some of the older llamas, like wool sweaters in a hot-water load of laundry?
Actually, neither of the above explanations tells the story.
We are fortunate to have been joined in the past few weeks by 6 new female alpacas, four adults and two babies that were born earlier this year. Like many of our guests who come for a Nova Scotia family vacation, the multi-generation alpacas are looking for a place to just hang out and relax.
A local alpaca breeder who is going out of business was looking for a retirement place for the older females. These females are still healthy with years of good living ahead of them, but they are no longer fit for breeding, nor are they show animals still in their prime. So these retired dames have come to us, with two of their young, to spend their days in leisure, keeping our fields tidy and producing both manure and desirable fiber for our use.
Introducing new animals to an established herd can sometimes be tricky, but the alpacas have settled in nicely. They are pastured together with Bella, our one female llama, and Mänu, who is her (slightly crazy) male companion. Alpacas and llamas tend to get along well and can even interbreed as long as one follows the rules for mixed alpaca and llama social groups: never more than one intact male in the proximity of a female. So, since Mänu is the only boy in with the female alpacas and the one female llama, it’s all working out just fine.
Like the llamas, the alpacas are curious by nature but a bit shy at first. As we get to know them better, we’re finding them to be gentle, very pleasant animals. And an added bonus to the alpacas is that they are much easier to handle because of their considerably smaller size.
Compared to the llamas, the adult alpacas' heads reach about the height of an adult llama's back. For a change, we’re stronger than the animals we’re trying to manage, which is a real bonus. With their smaller size, though, it’s nice to know that the alpacas have the big llamas nearby to act as the main protectors against predators.
So now we’re all settling in for the winter ahead. There’s plenty of pasture for all of the llamas and alpacas on nice days, and we’ve got two barns available for times when the animals need shelter. The larger barn, which can be completely closed, is for all the females plus Mänu. (The little alpacas and their lactating mothers need more warmth.) Then there is a three-sided boys' shelter for the 3 male llamas, which is on a different strip of land, completely out of sight of the other barn. All the animals are still out on the pasture every day, but now they get their supplemental share of hay in the barn as well.
With plenty of company, the barns for shelter, and their magnificent coats of insulating hair, the alpacas should have a warm and cozy winter here at Second Paradise’s Nova Scotia vacation rental cottages – a place of rest and relaxation for people and camelids.
