Hamilton Explores

Hamilton reaches beneath the fence to graze.

As the alpaca males trim away the fodder in their pasture, they've begun to look out beyond their fence. Although with the tube panels I am able to restructure their enclosure fairly readily, I don't always move fast enough to please "the boys." Hamilton serves as the herd barometer, because he's the first to stretch his neck past the fence line. So far he is the only alpaca to leave the pasture of his own accord. When I come home or look out of the porch and see Hamilton reaching beyond the fence, I know the time is nigh to reconfigure the pasture.

Recently Hamilton sent me word to move the fence, but I did not heed his warning. The next time I looked his way, Hamilton was out front grazing on the lawn. Since the perimeter fencing is good, I left him to graze for the day. I knew he would return at feeding time, if not before.

Hamilton enjoys greener pastures.

By afternoon he had moved from the greenest area and had ventured uphill where he could check out the action. There he could browse at will while looking over at the female alpacas and the goats. I imagined that he enjoyed his time abroad. Before feeding time, I moved fence panels to give the boys a chance to reach some new green patches. Hamilton returned when I opened the gate, wandering in just in time for dinner.