2009 August

True Story of Man Bitten by Alpaca

August 29, 2009 By Katy

The story has been going round the world, and the press has been having a field day with it. My recent post, Do Alpacas Attack People? had a big response from people. Lucy of Coire Alpacas brought it to my attention that the gentleman who was bitten has a blog! His name is Rob Rawlins of Wellground Alpacas, and he blogs at Robs Alpaca Blog.

On his blog, Rob dispels some of the untruths that have been written in the media about the incident where he was bitten by an alpaca and air-lifted to a hospital. For example, Rob says that it only took him 2 seconds to free himself from the alpaca, rather than it taking 3 men to get the alpaca off of him as it has been reported. It sounds like Rob was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was an unfortunate accident. The location of the bite and the fact that it came from an animal’s mouth added to the seriousness of the injury. (Mouths are FULL of bacteria!)

The male that bit him was Rob’s favorite so he’s not bearing ill will towards the alpaca. In a Murphy’s Law twist, the male alpaca was going to have his fighting teeth cut in a matter of minutes by the shearer who was on site when the incident occurred. Read more about Rob’s accident here.

Wishing Rob and his wife all the best, and hoping he makes a speedy recovery!

Filed Under: Alpacas ~ 3 Comments

Fiber Arts Friday

August 28, 2009 By Katy

This week’s feature fiber art craft is amigurumi. Amigurumi is a Japanese art of crocheted animals (or other cute things). It is done in single crochet in the round. These little creations slay me. I’m an alpaca breeder, that should tell you how far “cute” goes with me.

In my fantasy world, I learn to crochet and make these completely adorable things and live in a house full of them. When I get old, I am found buried in them. My children can barely get the door open to check on me, I am so steeped in adorableness…OK, wait, that’s starting to become more of a nightmare. Anyway, CUTE rules.

These amigurumi Star Wars characters have been making their way around the web. Often you will see very colorful amigurumi that is so cute it makes your teeth wiggle with sweetness. See some of these can be seen on JapanXtreme and at Willy-Nilly Waterlily. Also go visit Happy Whosits, who has been a contributor to Fiber Arts Friday and whose jolly, colorful creatures never fail to bring a smile to my face.

How can anyone resist this little guy? Here’s a list of amigurumi patterns. I’ve added this book to my Christmas list.

So what have you been doing with Fiber this week? Link your blog posts here:

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

Add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related, rather than your general blog address and not your Etsy store. (Please DO put a link in your blog post that takes us to your store though.)
Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s projects! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what helps us all connect!

Do Alpacas Attack People?

August 27, 2009 By Katy

Atlas

There has been a flurry of emotion on the internet recently following a man being bitten by an alpaca and being air-lifted to a hospital. Alpaca haters (can you believe there are such persons?) are getting a kick out of the idea that cute, cuddly-looking critters could hurt someone. These same people would probably go see a movie about killer bunnies.

The story is shocking and does raise some questions.

How Can An Alpaca Hurt You?

Fighting Teeth

We usually see pictures of alpacas when they are at their cutest. As an industry, and myself personally – we can’t help but share the cuteness. However, we must remember that there are grown males in the alpaca world. Males with testosterone. Males who just wanna breed. (That’s how we get those cute babies so it works for us).

Male alpacas get what are called “fighting teeth” at the back of their mouths on the sides. In the wild this is one of the only weapons alpaca males would have to fight each other for doiminance and the right to breed the females. It is customary to cut male alpaca’s fighting teeth, which are very sharp and pointy like a shark’s tooth, as they come in. On our farm we check males for fighting teeth several times a year. These teeth come in as the males reaches sexual maturity. We check yearlings and up. If the alpaca has fighting teeth that need to be trimmed, we use obstetric wire and saw them off. The process takes a minute or two, and then your alpaca is “safe” and ready to go. Often this only has to be done once in a male’s lifetime.

What happens if you don’t cut the fighting teeth? They can puncture a herdmate while fighting or “play” fighting. Adult alpaca males are generally housed together and spend some of their time neck wrestling and chasing each other around. This is something they do playfully, as well as seriously to establish dominance. Alpacas have distinct personalities and they have a pecking order and social roles.

For example, in the early years of our alpaca herd, we had two boys with strong personalities. Atlas had a lot of presence. He was all about being the top dog. He had to be the leader of the herd. We joked that he slept with one eye open. It was so important to Atlas that he be in charge that he was ever vigilant that another alpaca would try to take that role away from him. [Read more...]