Surviving the Summer Heat

As a side note: Here's a picture of a couple of frogs I took yesterday. I neglected to have any frog pictures in my last blog and I do not want a reputation of discriminating against any species of amphibian. One frog is a nice lime green and one is dark green and I don't know why. I did see on MSN today that frogs are becoming endangered globally. Their numbers are down from the harvesting of them in the wild. I think they
need to visit my house. I digress....



 
The summer heat this year is getting to me. We have been in the 110+ heat index for weeks now. It was 101 degrees yesterday and I was outside for about 4 hours. I do 2 hours then take off a couple of hours then go back out. I know it seems like alot of hot work to have these animals and to the new person just getting interested in alpacas, this might deter them. So, this year I have started a conditioning regime for the alpacas to make them easier to care for, for a new owner with a day job. I am getting the alpacas wet then getting them in front of a fan to cool off. I have two water sources for them. One is for drinking and one is for getting into to. As you can see from the picture here. As long as an alpaca has shade, water to drink and water to get into and a fan, they will usually do fine in this heat. If I condition the animals to do this already, a new owner can get a handful of fiber animals and still be able to care for them if they have a day job that takes them away from home. That is my goal! And I'm doing this because I'm in the business of raising alpacas. Not just owning them. It does take a little
more to raise them. Like breeding females require more
time than fiber boys do. Not everybody wants breeding
females because of this.

You always worry about your pets in the heat. Whether it is dogs, cats, or alpacas. Providing for them is the best you can do. The joy the animals give me the rest of the year is worth a few weeks of putting up with the heat. Its like with raising children. I know people who complain so much about how much they cost or picking up toys after them that they loose sight of all the joy the same child brings into their life. I was out today and took the hose to the boys side to spray them off a little and a boy that usually does not let me pet him or touch him came up to me and while I was spraying off his chest he actually gave me two kissed on the cheek! I couldn't believe it! Alpacas are very smart animals and appreciate what you do for them. It rekindled my joy.........................(smile)

Talk to you soon,  Tammy