Guard Llamas

I'm home today with bronchitis, and probably should have been home yesterday too. I poured a cup of coffee this morning and stepped to the window, just to look. I was surprised to see the llamas focused intently, which usually means that what they see they don't like. The sheep came racing behind them in a kind of we-wanna-see-too action.







I walked over, trying to see their target when Zephie started sounding an alarm. She kept sounding it for several minutes, even stepping into the corner of her fence to face the menace. Two stray dogs had wandered into our neighbor's yard, a yellow lab and a German shepherd. I've never seen them before and we were all happy to see them go. Livestock loss comes more often from dogs than coyotes and once again I'm glad to have our fence, even if it does mean we have more rabbits than anyone else. It's a coyote-free zone. The llama alarm is hard to describe, rather a cross between the braying of a donkey and the last wheezing gasps of an car engine when it's been turned off but is still motoring. I've only heard them sound it for dogs.

I sat on the deck in the sun this afternoon, spinning and reading, which seems surreal. I drove home from work this past Sunday in snow so heavy that I didn't stop to close the gate. Today I need sunscreen.