Are you an Alpaca?

When I was a little kid I had heard of the South American Llama, but the only time I ever saw them was at the Melbourne Zoo. Many years later I heard that there were some Alpacas that were going to be on show at the Royal Melbourne Horticultural Show for the first time. At that point in time I had never heard of them but was soon informed that they were a cousin of the more familiar Llama, but unlike Llamas who were used mainly as Pack Animals in the Mountains, the Alpaca was used for its fibre or wool.

So although not as familiar to me, and most Australians at that time as the more well known Llama, the Alpaca was in fact more practical and useful to farmers in Australia than its more famous cousin.

At that point they were very rare and thus rarely seen. These days they are much more common and can be seen here and there around the place, still usually in small numbers but occasionally in slightly larger numbers. As such, there are even Alpacas next door to my late father, Len’s property. At one stage they were even agisted there. Yes, Alpacas at L Parker’s!

Well the Alpacas have long since been moved back to their own nearby property and recently I went for a walk around the top of the Parker property and came back along the private Road to the house and saw about 2 Dozen Alpacas in 4 separate paddocks.

Before the Dogs and I actually got up close to the animals, I had head this weird noise, a bit like Terns or Plovers or even Sea Gulls, squealing. At first I actually thought it was Plovers but then I realized that it was the Alpacas making this weird squealing noise. The second thing I noticed was that it must have been a call for help, as every one of them, even though in different paddocks, came running up to the closest point to the supposed intruders. (The dogs and I!)

I think it great that they were prepared to protect themselves and each other by meeting the trouble head on and in the safety of numbers, as although bigger than sheep, they are not very big animals with any obvious means of self protection.

Alpacas are funny animals! Today looking at them I was reminded of the pictures we usually see of supposed half men, half horse Centaurs or whatever they are called. Looking at the Alpacas today I reckon that all you have to do with them is put a human head on them and they would make a better Centaur , than using a horse’s body and putting a man’s upper body and head on it’s neck.

Enough of Alpacas, what about you? Do people look upon you as if you are you an Alpaca? Are you too regarded as funny looking or strange by outsiders who don’t know who or what you are?

Are you regarded as strange because you are strange? Or are you simply strange to others because you are an unknown quantity to them?

If you are strange to them, then you will have to change your strange ways, or simply accept the situation as being one of your own choosing.

On the other hand, if you are strange to them, simply because you are new and unknown to them, then they need to be educated about you. The only way that will happen will be by exposure. Either to you or to your kind.

Often you will have no direct influence in how this happens, but you can choose how to react if it does happen.

As stated above, there are times when it is very advantageous to come together and meet intrusions full on. But there are other times when perceived danger can be diffused by a less aggressive and quieter approach.

The big issue is in deciding which approach to take each separate time and not take a “Rote” action every time.

You can choose to welcome these opportunities to be exposed to wider scrutiny, and thus hopefully break down any barriers between you when you show that you are little different to them.

r you can shut them out and continue to isolate yourself and your kind from outsiders. Like the Alpacas, at the first sight of intruders you can congregate in frightening numbers making scary sounds and aggressively approach these intruding intruders.

That is not to say that there are not times when we do need to be like the Alpacas, when genuine or potential trouble does approach.

Sometimes we just don’t do enough to protect those around us and instead of coming when they call, we turn and move the other way. So before you criticize others for rejecting you, analyse whether or not you are guilty of the same thing by retreating into your own kind.

Even if you are not an Alpaca yourself, there is no reason to reject someone just because they are unknown to you. Make the effort to find out about them. Like me, you may never get to own an Alpaca, but you can never tell when you might come across one. The big question then is how will you respond? Aggressively exclusive, or cautiously welcoming? Remember often you may have little choice; but more often than not, you will be able to choose one of the options, simply by how you outwardly react to strangers.

Over to you: Walter