What ever happened to Forrest?

Forrest at 3 days old.

It's always fun when farm visitors come back for a second or third time.  Sometimes the gap between visits is a day or a week, and sometimes it's much longer - but most of the time returning visitors will remember one or two animals that were special in some way.

Two years ago, Forrest worked his way into many hearts so I thought I'd give an update on him.

As many of you will recall, Forrest was a preemie.  We fought a tough fight with him his first couple of weeks.  While he wasn't strictly bottle fed, there was a lot of hands-on with him.  He grew into a very friendly and inquisitive boy,  but then we became worried that he may be turning a little 'too friendly' which can sometimes be a problem with male alpacas.  His forward nature was incredibly endearing at 20 pounds, but it would not be so cute at 200 pounds!  Sadly, we began limiting interaction with him so as not to encourage inappropriate behavior.

For more photos and info on Forrest's birth and precarious start, scroll down to previous blog posts from June 2012.

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Forrest at 2 days of age. Always a 'social butterfly', Forrest enjoys interaction with the herd.

A happy young guy with a spring in his step!

An aspiring herdsire at 3 months of age.

At 2 years of age, Forrest has comfortably settled into the 'Big Boy' pasture.  He does not get nearly the amount of interaction with guests, but we are proud to report that he has matured into a very nice, well-mannered and properly socialized boy.  He still loves attention and to get a neck rub every now and again, but he is not so inclined to lean on, or rub up against, people.  Because he still loves to interact, I have decided to begin clicker training with him.  He is a perfect candidate!   You can expect to see a little more of Forrest in the future.  For now, here he is at 2 years of age...

In full fleece - May 2014.

Turning into a handsome boy. June 2014.

Still curious and inquisitive - and has very cute ears!