Today I Helped Shear a Lama

Seriously... I shit you not! After a few trips up and down the mountain on my bike, I went to Greg and Taglia's farm to help shear their lama, Felix. Lama's are strange creatures, very similar to a camel, but a bit smaller.

I got there after they had caught, blindfolded, and hog-tied Felix. Apparently, it takes 1 person to hold his head, 1 on his front feet, 1 on his back legs, and someone on his body. After taking a few pictures, I held his neck and tried to calm him down. Lamas have a fairly long neck and so full of muscle you can't feel any bones underneath.

Greg, Lubosh, and Wayne did the shearing and when 1 side was done, we just turned him over and did the other side. They said he is 6 years old and may have never been sheared before, and as a result there was a huge amount of thick hair. The lama was the last of the animals to be sheared. Greg has done a half dozen sheep and a handful of goats before tacking Felix.

Greg and Taglia keep all sorts of creatures at their farm including the angora goats that I wrote about in a previous blog entry. "Fille", the baby angora, is now doing fine and is bouncing around like a kid should be.

They also have an amazing collection of exotic chickens like this young one. They have several "silkies" which actually have fur instead of feathers. I thought that they were just really fine feathers, but when I checked them out it sure looked like fur.

Thanks a ton, Greg, for telling me to come over. I alway enjoy going to their farm and its definitely not every day you get to shear a lama.