Bad Pictures

I'm looking forward to making a decent photo of these yaks. But I'm still nervous, will they freak out if I bring my camera and get down low, crouching like a predator? I doubt it...but am I willing to bet on it? This is the best I can do so far. Am I ridiculous for wanting to get them fun ear tags? How would I even put them on even if I got them. 


Meanwhile, my yaks sure have a lot of flies around them. Why? Apparently this is a complex issue. There are Horn flies, Face flies, Leg flies, Horse flies, and more. I realize they don't have very many compared to the problematic images on the internet, but they still have more than I would prefer and it must bother them.

Cattle and horses are plagued by nasty flies, I have learned. Face flies like to sit—you'll never guess. They like to eat all the secretions from their faces like snot and spit and eye boogers. It bothers them and transfers bacteria and they can get pink eye and things of that nature. Leg flies also are aptly titled and they bother the animals and so they keep moving and don't graze enough and can prevent them from being nourished enough. Horn flies are the tricky ones because they just sit on the animals' backs and suck their blood. Which if they have enough of them, they can actually cause significant blood loss which makes them not grow enough and not get enough nutrients as well. 

What's worse is there is no easy solution, according to the knowledge enhancer. There are sprays/oil applications much like you might put on a dog, there are aura-emitting ear tags kind of like flea collars for dogs, there is larvicide-laced food—all of which work except if you use them too long the flies become resistant. So you have to use all of them and rotate the treatments every year. I never knew I was going to have to deal with this stuff. Ugh. Experience is what you get right after you need it. I really would have appreciated being told all these things before I bought them. They very well may be "so much easier" than cattle, but that still doesn't tell me how much time and equipment and bravery I'm going to need. 


Rocky dry

Rocky wet
It is 94 degrees today and I'm pretty sure that a wooly mammoth meant to withstand minus 40 degrees isn't too comfortable with such high temperatures. So we tied them up and misted them down with the hose until they were wet. They seem to like it if they think it's just rain. One thing that struck me while I was with them today is how big they are getting. I think they are at least 7 inches taller at the withers than they used to be. Rocky is so big. Feels like I'm petting a bear...with horns.

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