Frisky Spencer

Spencer is a curious fellow and seems to feel obliged to closely inspect other animals. In this photo he is checking out Joshua, a Tennessee Fainter male purchased in Mt. Juliet last spring; Joshua appears to be hustling away. Goats usually stand for Spencer's inspections for a time, but soon tire of his scrutiny.

This weekend, though, I saw something I had not seen before...Spencer standing beside the dog Luther, looking down with his head perched atop his long neck. What was incongruous about the sight, though, was that Luther's back is still higher than Spencer's. There stood a big, fluffy, white dog suffering the furry brown alpaca's inspection. At some point Spencer's Mamma, Goldie Rose, decided that Luther was threatening her little baby and came to Spencer's "rescue."

Now, Luther knows his job is to guard the alpacas and goats. He stood pretty well for Spencer's inspection, but had begun to try to walk away when Goldie charged onto the scene with a screech. Knowing better than to try to stand up to Goldie's wrath, sturdy Luther dropped to the ground, rolled over, and bared his tummy in total submission. He's no fool: the ploy worked. Soon the alpacas had moved on and Luther hustled to the far side of the paddock to watch his flock from a safe distance.

I don't know if it's Spencer's age or the chill in the air, but he has gotten quite frisky of late and can be seen skipping around the paddock in that funny manner of alpacas on any number of occasions. Last night we had a hard frost and the alpacas all gathered outside to cush beneath the stars, grateful for once to be rid of the Southern heat and to be resting in a climate that feels more like home to them.