Siberia?

Do we live in Siberia? Global Warming??!! What? Are you kidding?

Have I mentioned before that we are more than ready for Spring to arrive?

Well, we are....and I am! This recent snow storm caught us by surprise because for the past two days the temps have been warmer, up in the 40s and 50s with lots of warm rain to melt away all of the stubborn rock-hard, icy snow that has been sticking around for over 2 weeks now. We also had some very strong wind with gusts up to 50-60 mph.

So when the snow started falling...well, actually blowing (we were still experiencing those awful wind gusts,too), we were quite surprised.

We sat around as it got worse and worse around midnight debating whether we should go up to barn to check on the llamas and rabbit. John was not up for it and grumbled about it, so I took the lead, picturing our poor llamas coated in a layer of freezing cold snow and our faces being on Animal Cops New Mexico for neglecting our furry critters.

The wind was furiously blowing so hard that with the snow, I couldn't even open my eyes to watch where I was walking. So, with the pitch-black night and the wall of blowing white, I felt like I was walking into a maelstrom.

The view from our back porch to the steps leading up to our pasture. There were snowdrifts up to 6" deep.
When I got to the barn, the poor llamas were in their pens, eager to get out to better shelter. Cataleya was covered with about 1-2" of snow. Catlinite had snow all over his face and eyes. Poor babies. All I had to do was open their pen gates and they followed me directly into the barn where I gave them a bit of pellets to warm them up.
Catlinite, always looking for an eating opportunity, went right to work munching on the hay. While Cataleya was more curious about getting close-up to Sage the Rabbit.
Sage was very cozy with her fuzzy cat house and plastic dog house to sleep in. The metal pan, bricks and piping on top are placed there to give the cage some weight so that it can't be flipped over by stray dogs. I had turned the cage with the door to the wall to prevent any stray dogs or coyotes from getting in, but with both of her little houses facing backwards, it also kept the snow from blowing in. The white stuff you can see in her cage is not snow, but rather her blankie that she likes to shred and sleep on.
A view out of the barn. I didn't want to go out there and walk back to the house in all of the blowing cold snow.
Here you can see how useless the current design of the barn really is. The roof is too short/shallow and high. This allows snow and rain to blow in when accompanied by windy conditions. Both pens have no space for either llama to lay down, kush and keep warm and dry.
Poor Cataleya with her snow blanket. While she was eating some pellets, she allowed me to brush off most of that snow before I headed back to the house. Sage seemed to enjoy having the llamas up close. She is very cozy on the floor of the barn with hay, straw and her blankie to snuggle into.
Catlinite seemed relieved and happy to be inside the cozy barn with all that hay to munch. So much for putting our big guy on a diet!
After I left the barn, I stopped off at the chicken coop to refill the chicken's food and water and make sure they were ok, too. They were cozy, warm and dry in their chicken house.