This is soooo Jupiter: big friendly smile, cheeky eyes and a head full of twigs and hay. When we first bought him and Neptune, almost exactly three years ago, Jupiter was quite reserved and aloof whilst Neptune was far more confident and assured! How things have changed. Neptune is still confident, friendly and at times quite barmy (i.e. mad) but Jupiter is now a bundle of naughty pushiness. He is often the first to come over to see what is going on and he won’t think twice about barging in front of the others to be first to the pellets or hay.
Alpacas really are a joy to own. They seem to have developed the perfect balance between being independent and friendly, making them very easy to look after but still very engaging. Ours are a very close group and are virtually never apart and whilst they can squabble at feed time (Neptune and Saturn have the most amazing spitting matches – just don’t get in the way), they are otherwise very peaceful animals.
We also love the way they get on with and totally accept any other animals we buy. We call them the ‘smallholding custodians’ as, once they have accepted that a new animal is here to stay, their protective nature kicks in and they seem to always be aware of what is going on. It was Neptune and Jupiter that alerted us to the birth of our first pygmy goat kids one year. We heard them crying out and when we went down to the barn, there was Parsley licking dry her first kid, as the two boys encircled her, eyes glued to the new arrival!!!
Back in Minions they were brilliant fox guards, here at Cadbury Cottage they are currently unemployed as we have seen neither sight nor sound of any foxes at all. It is good to know however, that if any do put in an appearance then poultry, lambs, kids and cria, will hopefully be totally safe!!!