Uh Oh the wife wants to raise Alpacas.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

A blind rabbit and a blind snake meet each other. Neither one remembers what kind of animal they are, so they decide to feel each other.

The rabbit says, "You feel me first." The snake says okay, and he starts feeling the rabbit.

He says, "Well, you have fur all over, and a little cotton tail, and two long ears, and big back feet..."

The rabbit says, "I know! I'm a rabbit! Yippee!" Then the rabbit feels the snake.
He says, "Okay, you're long and thin, and slimy all over, and there's a little forked tongue..."

The snake says, "Oh no!" " I'm a lawyer."


After a long day at the office, Bob came home one day to find his dog with the neighbor's pet rabbit in his mouth. The rabbit was obviously dead.

"If my neighbors find out my dog killed their bunny, they'll hate me forever," he thought.

So he took the dirty, chewed up rabbit into the house, gave it a bath and blow-dried its fur.

He knew his neighbors kept their backdoor open during the summer, so he snuck inside and put the bunny back into the cage, hoping his neighbors would think it died of natural causes.

A couple of days later he saw his neighbors outside.

"Did you hear that Fluffy died?" the neighbor asked.

"Oh. Uhmm... Sorry to hear that. What happened?"

The neighbor replied, "We just found him dead in his cage one day. But the strange thing is that the day after we buried him, we went out to dinner and some sick bastard dug him up, washed him and put him back into the cage!"

 

[Khan]

Snakes aren't slimy.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Whats the difference between a dead bunny and a dead lawyer in the middle of the road?



Skid marks in front of the bunny.

 

[dumpster56]

Snakes aren't slimy.

I hate snakes and I live near a creek in North Carolina and we got copperheads, black racers and garter snakes.

Mucho fun out in the yard!

 

[adrian]

Alpacas the inside story

I saw this thread on Google so signed up just to tell you what its really like.

At one extreme you can buy two gelded males for maybe $500 shear them each year spin the wool and knit up some great sweaters. Its fun and plenty of people do it but you will not get rich doing this. Its a cottage industry and not much different from having a pony or a couple of dogs. They live at least 20 years and yes just as there are dogs that bite there are alpacas that spit... so buy ones that don't spit.....unless you like that sort of thing!

At the other extreme you can get involved in the breeding market which has been going on for 22 years now. But be careful at some point the market has to move from breeding to production and at that point prices for average animals will fall. Don't buy in unless you can afford to lose it all and not even notice.

If you are thinking about putting your life savings into alpacas ...lie down until the feeling goes away.

A few people are making a great deal of money and some aren't. Do they care? I don't think they do, many are folks who like breeding and showing their alpacas and winning ribbons. Knitting sweaters and hanging out with other breeders.Will their kids take over the farm when they retire? I doubt it very much... these are not farming folks its a lifestyle thing a bit like like owning horses.


I suggest you go to one of the big alpaca auctions that happen all over the US. There is almost always free food and drink, usually at a great location and you can watch doctors and dentists pay anything from $30,000 to as much as $500,000 for one really top alpaca.....completely crazy if you ask me, but its a great atmosphere and its fun to watch.

At the end you will think wow that farm just made $3 million in one day selling alpacas ....and you are right they did...but do not imagine for one moment you can do the same simply by buying a handful of animals and taking them home with you.

Instead buy a couple of really soft and beautiful alpaca sweaters for each other and head home.

May all your dreams come true........

 

[Robert the Red]

Interesting. I've never heard of them being eaten. I thought all they were good for was pack animals and wool. Do they taste like venison, or do they have a distinct unique flavor?

In my experience, they taste like beef with a little pepper and sweetness added. Actually, I really liked it when we were in Peru, and wish it was easily available here. Guinea pig, on the other, the Peruvians can keep.

 

[WanderALot]

In my experience, they taste like beef with a little pepper and sweetness added. Actually, I really liked it when we were in Peru, and wish it was easily available here. Guinea pig, on the other, the Peruvians can keep.

Man, I really, really wanted to try guinea pig when we were there. We saw it being raised everywhere in the villages so we thought it should be pretty easy to get. We tried to order some on our last couple of nights in Arequipa and Lima and couldn't find it anywhere!

 

[sgeeeee]

Man, I really, really wanted to try guinea pig when we were there. We saw it being raised everywhere in the villages so we thought it should be pretty easy to get. We tried to order some on our last couple of nights in Arequipa and Lima and couldn't find it anywhere!

We found the same thing. We did finally get some in a little chicha bar up in the mountains. It seemed okay after a few glasses of chicha.

 

[Jane_Doe]

Ours is turning six years old in a few months (we think) and I hate to ask-- but how long did yours live?

Hey, Nords, sorry for the delay - I haven't kept up on this thread. Our dd's bunny lived several years, but if I had to guess, I wouldn't say more than 6 or 7 years. Felt a lot longer at the time - little kids don't do a real good job of taking care of pets (duh!). When the Easter Bunny decided to bring the bunny it seemed like a good idea at the time! Meanwhile, my dh and I feel your pain about the empty nest having furr balls in it. Our youngest left for college in the fall and we still have the girls' two cats! 10 and 5 yrs so we have quite a while to go yet. DH says when the oldest dd grads this spring that she gets to take her cat with her when (ha, ha) she gets out on her own. Did I tell you guys three weeks after younger dd went off to college older dd moved back home?! (still finishing school, tho) : God does have a sense of humor, in case you were wondering ..........

Jane

 

[DRiP Guy]

Alpacas the inside story

I saw this thread on Google so signed up just to tell you what its really like.

Wow, awesome reply! Really appreciate you giving us that 'insider's view'.

Now you have my interest peaked - not for alpacas per se, but to see those folks in their alpaca auction culture!

Hey, do I sense another mockumentary opportunity, i.e. "Best in show"?

 

[laurence]

#%^.

Ours receives excellent care and was neutered around eight months of age-- during his incarceration. He'd been picked up for reckless hopping down a Waimanalo road, although he swears the carrot-juice container wasn't open.

The oldest we've seen is a 12-year-old bunny with dual cataracts and the equivalent of Parkinson's. It didn't look pretty but it was able to navigate its turf and do its bunny business.

If our kid gets her way she's leaving the coop in three years, five months, and a week. We just thought it'd be nice closure for the bunny to check out at the same time. Doesn't look like there's much chance of that happening! Unless, of course, something scares the cardiac crap out of him in the middle of the night...

I WAS WRONG, FALSE ALARM! Bugs only lived 8 years or so....I had it totaly screwed up. DW set me straight. I guess I didn't "just miss" Bugs, they just liked him so much they were still talking about him. :

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

WHEW, cuz everything I read said that more than 12 would be a bit of a stretch, so I fibbed and said they could live to 16 so as to not make it look like you make **** up...

 

[sgeeeee]

WHEW, cuz everything I read said that more than 12 would be a bit of a stretch, so I fibbed and said they could live to 16 so as to not make it look like you make **** up...

I find this hard to believe . . . that CFB would actually avoid trying to make it look like someone else was wrong.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Believe it or not, it happens all the time. I'm just so good at BS that nobody notices. Its only when I call someone elses BS that its noticeable.

By the way, i've been meaning to have a talk with you about this 'ancient sg' / 'sgeeeee' thing. Since you were younger and beginning your posting career as the original named person, shouldnt that be named "young sg" and your current moniker be "older sg"? I dont really think you qualify for 'ancient' status.

 

[Nords]

Thanks, everyone, the bunny and I are gonna have a little chat later.

I especially like the characterization of the empty nest with furballs!

 

[adrian]

Glad you liked the inside story......

Knowing about alpacas means I also know a little something about Peru and guess what Peruvians eat an estimated 65 million Guinea pigs each year, and the animal is so entrenched in the culture that one famous painting of the Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco, Peru shows Christ and his disciples dining on guinea pig.

What do they taste like? It depends how old they are when you eat them...like most animals the younger ones are more tender but then they weigh less.....another of lifes compromises.

You can also use the entrails to predict the future.......

 

[WanderALot]

We found the same thing. We did finally get some in a little chicha bar up in the mountains. It seemed okay after a few glasses of chicha.

I thought the chicha was absolutely disgusting! One of the locals said that they the way they used to make chicha was to chew up the corn and the spit it into a container where it would ferment into chicha? I always wondered if this was an embellishment or not.

... the animal is so entrenched in the culture that one famous painting of the Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco, Peru shows Christ and his disciples dining on guinea pig.

Yeah, I remember seeing this painting. What was really funny was the artist drew Judas as the only white-skinned disciple and Judas had an amazing resemblance to Francisco Pizarro, the reviled Spaniard who 'discovered' Peru.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I thought the chicha was absolutely disgusting! One of the locals said that they the way they used to make chicha was to chew up the corn and the spit it into a container where it would ferment into chicha? I always wondered if this was an embellishment or not.

Thats exactly how its made...

 

[bssc]

From today's Washington Post

Monster Bunnies to Save North Korea and Kooky Kim

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020101797.html (some registration required)

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Thats the third time thats been posted!

Kim Jong is welcome to eat me.

 

[bssc]

Thats the third time thats been posted!

Kim Jong is welcome to eat me.

Missed it because it was in today's Post and I didn't check past today (and didn't remember from earlier). I am embarrassed.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Hey, its just a little nerve wracking to see everyone trying to make food out of my namesake.

I'm gonna be getting a complex!

 

[sgeeeee]

I thought the chicha was absolutely disgusting! One of the locals said that they the way they used to make chicha was to chew up the corn and the spit it into a container where it would ferment into chicha? I always wondered if this was an embellishment or not.

Chicha is still a cottage industry in Peru so the manufacturing process is highly variable. In small Andean villages people brewed large earthernware vats of chicha for several days and they put a white flag out in front of their house when it was ready. The "plain" chicha I tried was a little bitter, but some people put fruit or sugar in some batches and the taste was very different. "Chicha" (which I've been told means spit) was the name the Spanish gave the brew because it was (is) brewed after masticated ground corn meal is dried then fermented.

I liked it.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Wikipedia has a good article on it...seems there are two kinds...one thats fermented as newsg describes and one that isnt fermented at all and is made from a completely different set of ingredients. The fermented stuff is light colored, the non fermented stuff is dark...and spit free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicha

Alpacas to spit fermented beverages with stopovers on empty nesters with pets, rabbit lifespans, and 3rd world countries breeding and eating giant rodents.

Impressive.

 

[Zoocat]

A mockumentary would be fun! Check out this link.

http://www.alpacanet.com/listing1.cfm

I had no idea there were such a variety of Alpacas and so many different hairstyles too!