Category Archives: animals

posts about the animals

48 hours

Posted on April 3, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Marcello looks at across his domain through long, dark eyelashes that are crusted with ice. The wind has blown all day and night, and the snow that started sometime after midnight is plastered to his right side. Glancing down at … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Winter lessons for summertime fence building

Posted on April 2, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

We tried oh-so-hard to build perfect paddocks for the ‘pacas. But the thing is, you build fences under the blistering summer sun. The earth is like pre-fired clay under the auger, and it’s hard to even imagine the crisped-grass landscape with … Continue reading →

Posted in animals, business | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kill it, Whisper

Posted on March 27, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Mr. Personality, aka Whisper, has developed a few games to play in and around the barn. Ambush is particularly fun for our little hunter. He likes to hide in the horses’ feed troughs and wait for Zip or Squeaky to … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In case you needed proof Tuscany is a ninny

Posted on March 26, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Dad managed to catch Tuscany in the act of playing with the gutter end cap, with a new twist… …because the only thing more fun than a gutter end cap is a bucket of water and a gutter end cap. … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Alpaca bio: Marcello

Posted on March 23, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Marcello is another one of our alpacas that I just don’t “get” (Morocco is the other). No matter how much I interact with the herd, I still can’t pick up on his personality. I’m not entirely convinced he has one.

Posted in animals, fiber art | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tuscany trains for the circus

Posted on March 22, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Mom was treated to a most unusual act from Tuscany the other day. It seems the great white ninny is practicing his tricks. We feed the ‘pacas “crumbles”, a pellet food, mostly so that we know they are getting all the … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mom’s familiar

Posted on March 21, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Familiar – noun, “An attendant spirit, often taking animal form.” Squeaky, the larger of Mom’s two black cats (and the one with the tiny tuft of white on his chest), has become her shadow. He watches over her from the rafters … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy Friday from Bravado

Posted on March 16, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

The work week is almost over, and it’s been a long one for poor Bravado… Throughout this whole weaning thing, he’s stuffed his face even more frantically than usual. When little Trip’s background humming annoys Bravado, he only stops chewing long enough … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Halter training and weaning gallery

Posted on March 14, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Before we could train or separate Tripoli, we had to catch him. Which is never easy with the rest of the herd getting in the way… A big bear hug is the usual way to catch an alpaca, in case … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Weaning little Tripoli

Posted on March 13, 2012 by cliffhousealpacas

Dad caught little Tripoli doing some very *ahem* big boy things…if you know what I mean…last week. Even though he’s kind of been doing such things (all in “play”, not productively, or rather, reproductively) since he was old enough to … Continue reading →

Posted in animals | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment