The last outdoor activity each day is feeding the 9 alpacas and 2 llamas. It was late yesterday when I finally distributed the evening meal of hay and as usual, I spent some precious time observing their interesting mannerisms. I noticed our big white boy, Enrique, struggling to swallow, so sat down next to him. Letting me sit so close to him, in itself is very unusual. He was cushing next to what he wanted to eat, and was straining his neck in all different directions. Then he would swallow and I could see the food go down his long neck and then come all the way back up again. He then proceeded to chew, swallow and retrieve the same mouthful again and again. I really started to worry as this went on for such a long time -perhaps he had something stuck down his throat - could it be the timber ball he chewed off my hat earlier in the day? Then as it was almost dark and the mosquitoes were just about carrying me away, he just stood up and started eating normally. This means he was going to everyone else's food and moving them on so that he could eat theirs. I was so relieved as I had visions of vets and operations and ..... we have been there before with so many different opinions. This morning he was his usual boisterous confident self - I had learnt another camelid peculiarity.
No comments:
Post a Comment