Information comes from unexpected sources. The Doyenne read out a crossword clue – With stems traditionally used as fuel to fire bread ovens and coconut-scented yellow blooms to dye Easter eggs, a shrub of wild landscapes, also called furze (5 letters).
If the clue had just been furze I’d have got the answer anyway. What I didn’t know is that gorse stems were traditionally used to fire bread ovens. Nor that its yellow blossom was used to dye Easter eggs.
Yellow broom also has five letters but the giveaway, of course, was the coconut-scented flowers which confirmed that the answer was whin – which confusingly has only four letters – otherwise known as gorse.
But then crosswords are notoriously full of conundrums – which, on occasion, can end in cross words. Anyhow, I came out of it all a wiser man.
An animal that works on our mind, body and soul
A reader brought our attention to the alpaca farm at David’s Hill, St Vigeans, on the outskirts of Arbroath, where her grandchildren had enjoyed a morning trekking with these child-friendly animals.
I’d never been close up to an alpaca so I called Jayne Yule who, with her lobster fisherman husband Tommy, started the farm two and a half years ago.
I got a cheery wave of welcome from Jayne as I arrived and was greeted too by three of her inquisitive alpacas which came over to inspect me – keeping their distance as we hadn’t been introduced.
Alpacas stand about a metre tall at the shoulder, the size of a Great Dane dog, and are very woolly.
Their homeland is South America, living up to 16,000 feet in the Andean highlands of Peru, Bolivia and Chile where temperatures can drop to -45ºC in winter. So our winters are pleasantly temperate.
They are bred for their fleece – note, not wool – which is warmer than sheep’s wool, softer and more durable. Jayne has them sheared once a year and she has a ready outlet for the fleece with local spinners and knitters.
They feed on grass and hay supplemented with pellets of camel food. They push each other out of the way to be first if you offer them a handful of the camel pellets. As they have teeth only in their lower jaw your fingers are quite safe.
The Covid-19 vaccine has nanobodies which are antibodies taken from alpaca blood, so they are making a life-saving contribution to our physical health
Alpacas are gentle with humans, quickly becoming domesticated and responding readily to training.
It wasn’t surprising to learn that they are used as therapy animals, especially with children, and are popular with mental health groups. Jayne takes hers to retirement homes to meet the residents, and pre-school play groups visit the farm.
The Covid-19 vaccine has nanobodies which are antibodies taken from alpaca blood, so they are making a life-saving contribution to our physical health as well. If that wasn’t enough, Jayne told me they are the only animal that can’t catch flu.
They don’t socialise particularly well with other animals, especially dogs, so it was as well I’d left Inka at home.
The farm chickens wandering between their feet eat the ticks and parasites and other beasties that the alpacas might pick up and are contributing to the alpacas’ wellbeing. The alpacas reciprocate by protecting the chickens from dangers such as foxes.
Jayne lost sixteen chickens in one night to a fox but the alpacas will gang up against such intruders and see them off, and she hasn’t lost a single chicken since.
Jayne arranges trekking parties through the surrounding St Vigeans countryside, with trekkers leading their own alpaca. Those too young to trek or not able to walk far are welcomed to the farm to meet and feed the alpacas, and have the chance to take their special photos of the attractive and unusual animals.
Jayne also holds workshops teaching crafts such as needle felting, using alpaca fleece to create your own alpaca doll to take home with you.
I read that dogs are our link to paradise. After a lifetime with dogs I’ve no doubt there’s a grain of truth in it, but when I look back on the frustrations and irritations I’ve experienced with some of them it’s a slightly wobbly conviction
I said my farewells to Forever, Glimmer, Jemima, Goldilocks, Lily Looby Lou, Minny and Faerie Dubh. I’d spent a most instructive morning with them and enjoyed meeting them all – and they seemed kindly disposed towards me.
I read that dogs are our link to paradise. After a lifetime with dogs I’ve no doubt there’s a grain of truth in it, but when I look back on the frustrations and irritations I’ve experienced with some of them it’s a slightly wobbly conviction. One thing’s for sure however, after a lifetime with them I can’t imagine a life without them.
But after my morning with the alpacas I can’t help thinking they could be an alternative to dogs – if ever I needed one.
The main problem is that alpacas are social herd animals and a single alpaca will go into decline, suffering from what is known as berserk syndrome, and die of loneliness. So I’d need to have at least two or three, and several acres to keep them.
And as they live for around twenty-five years they are a long term commitment. Probably best if I stick with paradise.
