Camila's Yarn

About Camila

Camila was an import from Chile. She had been in the U.S. for several years before she arrived on our farm. The best way to describe Camila is "street smart." In the beginning, she was very uncomfortable around humans. When we would weigh her or trim her nails, she would shake

uncontrollably. Camila is very alert to everything going on around her and very cautious. It took about a year, but she finally became more comfortable around us. Now, she lets us pet and handle her, although she is still a bit leary, and always on the alert.

Camila is our oldest alpaca. According to her registration, she was born in 1996 and imported in 1998. She is the wise leader of the herd, although she never bullies anyone. I think the alpacas all respect her for her wisdom, street smarts and age. Rarely do the other girls try to take Camila's food, but when they do, she has a very effective, yet subtle way of discouraging them. She gently, but forcefully pushes them out of the way with her muzzle. I have never seen anyone challenge her.

Camila has the most wonderful crias (babies), but they are all cautious and stand-offish, just like their mom. Although her registration shows she had a male cria before she came to live here, her first cria for us was Cameo. Cameo, who has the softest, lovliest fleece you ever did see, now lives in Boerne, Texas. Her next cria, a male we named Cairo, also has fiber to die for. After Cairo came another boy, Aqabah (which is located at the Southern tip of Jordan), then a third boy, Tripoli (who now lives in Georgia). Next came Milan, a gorgeous maroon/brown girl, full of spunk. Milan slimmers with luster and has a very rich, beautiful coloring.

In the fall of 2009, we discovered that Camila was pregnant - by accident. Someone left a gate open (oops). Since we did not know her due date, we watched her closely for quite some time. She was huge and we were concerned she might have twins. When she finally went into labor, we realized she was about to deliver our first breech. Our hats off to our vet, Dr. Shari Kennedy, who after 30 mins of hard work got Camila's cria out safely. It was a boy, and his rear legs were weak from being pulled on to get him out. It took him a long time to stand, then he had trouble nursing, as his legs would give out on him when he leaned his neck back. He just needed a few days to get strength in his legs. Don was out of town and talked to his friend about the birthing ordeal. By the time the story got back to me, Camila's cria was born, "all jacked up," with a broken shoulder and two broken legs! Of course, the cria was fine, so we decided to name him, Pax River's All Jacked Up, and call him Jack for short.

The identity of Jack's daddy was a mystery for some time. We finally got a blood sample sent off to the lab and it came back as none other than (scroll down):

Jack is in the middle of the picture playing with his buddies.

HIS BROTHER - AQABAH - IS ALSO HIS FATHER!!!

DOUBLE OOPS!!

Don & Sue Rosche
15775 Mt. Calvert Rd, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
301-627-4924
paxriveralpacas@aol.com