Running of the Alpacas

Sorry these blogs are late... Ive just been sooo busy with the alpacas, at night I'm pretty tired.
We decided the other night that we were going to move the alpacas to a second enclosure in the back of the property. I was hoping to have a few of them halter trained before we attempted this, but they are eating much more of the grass than we were lead to believe they would so quickly. With the second enclosure more than 75 feet away and no trailer to transport them, we had to come up with a plan of how to move them best. I decided to call the large alpaca ranch that we purchased them from and ask how they usually moved them and what they suggested. They said not to worry. The alpacas are herding animals. Even if you don't have any of them halter trained it wont be a problem. Just line up obstacles where you don't want them to go. Have one person lead and another walk behind them and they should follow the leader. Great. Sounds good. We put Joseph and Emily in the house so they wouldn't spook them and I carried Ethan. Mike carried the little trough of pellet seed, which is like a treat for them. Mike opened the gate and he started to lead them out. All looked good as they followed Mike out investigating the feed trough. They sampled the grass as they walked. I was admiring how beautiful they were as I walked behind them scooting along stragglers. A few of them turned to check what I was doing and then check where Mike was. I started to get the feeling that something wasn't quite right. The alpacas started cutting to the right and I walked over to keep them in line. Sure enough they straightened back out on course. My gut still told me that this was not right. The alpacas were shifting there watch from Mike to me and then I saw them take a long look around them. One last look at Mike and my positions and they started pressing Mikes position. They cut around him to the right, totally ignoring the pellets he was shaking in the trough to get their attention. Suddenly one pressed forward from the center and they were off at a run. I was so surprised. They were not supposed to do that. I watched them run for about 30 feet as they reached full run. That's when it set in that they were out of control. I looked over at Mike, his mouth open and shaking the feed trough still. I could see the shock clearly in his face. Only by the grace of God did they not cut to the right were the main road was and easy freedom to town and the highway. They cut to the left to the back of the property. I was hopeful that they would run into the 2nd enclosure that we had created in the back, but they cut to the wrong side of the trees. There was still a remnant of the old fencing around most of the property, but there were gaps to the right in the rear. I prayed the the heavy shrubbery and bushes would conceal this. I watched as they ran full speed kicking their feet in the air in excitement and ran to the rear of the property into the shrubbery. I kept chanting in my head, they don't challenge fences, they don't challenge fences... As they approached the overgrown old fence in the rear, they slowed to a stop. I sighed a momentary relief as they turned back to our property. Suddenly my gut wrenched as they turned back towards us at a run. It was like slow motion in my mind. The leaders eyeing Mike and my locations, the open spaces... Their fleece flowing up and down with each running step they took. Their padded feet made a surprising thudding sound as they ran. It was quite impressive. I was holding Ethan, but I made my best attempt to spread out my arms to discourage them from running past me. Thankfully the property was more narrow just past the dry creek bed, so Mike and I ran to this location to try and hold them off and force them to the back again, perhaps this time they would run into the enclosure. As they ran at me full speed all I could think was that they could not pass me. It seemed like eternity, but as they reached where I was standing they veered and ran back to the rear of the property again. Again they missed the enclosure. They ran at us again. This time they were more bold and got closer before they turned and ran to the back again. I thought they were gone. I wasn't sure if I could hold them off again. My brain was racing. How could we save this? Mike said he was going to run to the neighbors. I started to panic. What happens when they run at me and see that Mike is gone? There was no way that I could keep them there by myself. Mike reached the neighbors back door in record speed and pounded on it with surprising force. By the time the mother reached the door, Mike was already running back to our property. He yelled to her asking for her help to corral them. Then the alpacas gathered, ready for another run. Mike made it just in time to discourage them from passing. They ran to the right side of the property where there was no fence. They nestled themselves into the shrubbery, not noticing there was no fence yet. I started to panic more (I wouldn't have thought that was possible before that moment). I didn't know what the neighbors property looked like. Was it fenced? How easily could they get to the road in front of their house? To my amazement two of the lie down in the grass behind the shrubbery. One of them rolled on the neighbors young sapling they had planted. I looked over at the neighbor as she WALKED over and I stifled the urge to yell at her to run. Her two boys were soon running out the door to come assist as well. Mike yelled at them to create a wall and pointed out the enclosure. They didn't seem to know anything about them and I think they were nervous that they were going to get stampeded. The alpacas started to press further into the neighbors property. Mike started to make a run for the dry creek bed to get them to stop, but I think that the neighbor boy's playground frightened them from going any further. Out from their hiding they came and they made another run out to the center of the property before turning to make a run at us again. As they began their run, the neighbor lady finally made it into a position and the boys were steps behind. The alpacas seemed taken aback that there were suddenly more of us. They slowed rapidly and assessed the situation. Trying a new route, they made a run past the enclosure opening between the trees and realized that there was fencing on that side of the property. They turned and began a slow run back to the center. Before they could cross the trees and pass the enclosure opening again, I made a run at them to force them to turn and run where they were at. Thank God it worked and all but two of them ran into the enclosure, while the other two made it around the tree to the back of the property. Mike ran and closed the fence. What a relief! We were not worried about the remaining two as they will just hang around the fence trying to join the herd again. I profusely thanked the neighbors for helping. It seemed like the herd was loose forever, but the whole ordeal probably lasted 7 to 10 minutes at the most. As the neighbors went back to their dinner, my knees suddenly went wobbly and my stomach hurt. Mike was stuttering. He said all he could see was us chasing down the alpacas through town. The herd illuminating in the headlights of the car before they run away again. We were both exhausted. I couldnt help but to tell the alpacas that they were STINKERS. I felt terrible to put them in an enclosure after seeing them run so freely. It was truely a beautiful sight. I wished that we had that 10 acre farm instead of the couple acres that we do have. Im currently trying to get mike to give up all of the back property to them. I keep seeing them running in my mind. Kicking their heels up, fleece flowing as they ran, rolling in the grass - it was so beautiful.