Suzy Beggin, Shepherdess

                                                                                                                                            Suzy@SuzyBeggin.com

 

 

 

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Isn't Wool Scratchy?
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Other Fun Links:

 

1858 Historic Ball

A historic dance in celebration of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debate to take place on August 30, 2008.

 

Suzy's Doozies & Suzy's Musings

My book and weekly articles.

 

Galena Historic Dance Society

A fun group to practice and learn 19th century dance.  We meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the ARC in Galena.  All are welcome!

 

Stephenson County Fiber Art Fair

A marvelous celebration of fiber.

 

Freeport Cruise Night Nothing to do with sheep or wool, but it's an event I volunteer at and have a lot of fun with.  J

 

 

 

Text Box: Simon the Llama

Text Box: Early one morning soon after we had moved to Stockton, I found a dead sheep.  I won’t gross you out with details, but from the remains I could tell the sheep had been attacked by a dog or a coyote.  Two weeks later I found another dead sheep.  I talked to a local coyote hunter who said our local pack traveled in a large area, but returned about every other week.  Unless I did something, he said I could expect to find a dead sheep every two weeks.    A 19th century farmer with the same problem would have killed any coyote, dog or wolf bothering his livestock using traps, poison, or a good old-fashioned musket.   Simon ready for his close-up.       Instead, I solved the problem with a llama.  Moses, my first llama, was on guard from October 2003 to January 2006.  Currently Simon is on duty, and has been since October of 2006.  Since I started using a llama not a single sheep has been killed by a predator on my farm.    A guard llama keeps a look-out, rounding the sheep up and running them into the barn when he senses danger.  About the size of a small horse, the coyotes think the llama is the biggest sheep they’ve ever seen!  My predator-friendly method leaves the coyotes unharmed and free to roam the rest of the property, but they know to stay away from Simon and the sheep.    Llamas are well-known as fiber producing animals in South America, and when we shear the sheep Simon gets sheared as well.  However, llama fiber is a recent “discovery” among North Americans, and a llama would not have been part of a typical 18th, 19th or early 20th century Midwestern American farmer’s homestead.  Simon's fiber is kept separate from the sheep wool and is not added to any of my yarns, since llama fiber would not be a historically correct part of an 18th, 19th or early 20th century woman’s knitting basket.   Simon watching over his flock in the early spring of 2007.       

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