Tuesday 11 January 2011

112. Long -necked sheep


When you first see an alpaca you think that you are looking at long necked sheep and more is that case when they have just been shawn. Once they  have been shawn they look like children’s dolls on stick, all legs and spindly bodies. They are also a bit like small children and when approaching them they all suddenly develop a sense of indignity, stop what they doing at try to out stare you. There is a flock of these funny looking creatures on the shoreline just above Mapledurham lock.
Although they resemble llamas, they belong to a family of camels and they are the most valuable fiber-bearing animals because of the quality and quantity of its fiber. All strange looking creatures have some strange facts about them and the alpaca is no exception. When annoyed at people they spit green spit at you ,when having a dump they use the same communal  dung pile and the females are induced ovulators  which means that  the act of mating and the presence of semen causes them to ovulate, and often leads to conception  after just one mating. Can you imagine what this would do for the world population and the ensuing Armageddon, if man was an alpaca?

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