Since Steven and I had some unexpected free time while in the northwestern Idaho city of Coeur'd'Alene we decided to book a tour of Seven Stars Ranch. We were attracted to the ranch because of the opportunity to get in close contact with the ranch's many alpacas especially.
What a fun place the ranch would have been to camp overnight if we still had our trailer. I am sure our four children would have had a blast hanging out with all the farm animals.
We certainly lucked out when we found out that Sonia, the ranch owner, was going to be our personal guide on our tour of her property. She warned us the clay would be very slippery so we'd better hang on in the muddy pasture! Fortunately, the tour cost included being able to borrow long boots.
I had thought initially that the only animals we'd see on the ranch were alpacas but Sonia said they had a wide variety of animals though they had started out with just three alpacas. In one of the pastures was a wild turkey. I wonder, with Thanksgiving approaching, whether he'll be still roaming the ranch or will be part of a fabulous dinner!
Though they had two horses to begin with, there were now five on the ranch.
Sonia explained to us city slickers that the mini horses could measure never more than 30" at the withers or shoulders. She added that she never comes up to Little Blue or other horses without putting some hugging in!
This mini horse was called a Blue Roan because of its nose, according to Sonia. I think she said that Little Dream was a five-year-old rescue animal.
Sonia assured me that I was not getting too 'fresh' with Misty, the ten-year-old mini donkey, as donkeys loved bum rubs! Olivia, the darker-haired donkey and Misty's daughter, also loved having her bum rubbed. I found out that donkeys can live up to forty years of age.
I felt more comfortable patting Misty on her back!
Sonia explained that she and her husband moved down to the 'Lower 48' from Alaska a dozen years ago when they decided to 'retire' at the age of 65. Their goal has always been to be good stewards of the land, animals, and people who cross their path. She reads up on different animals and likes to hang around people who are smarter than she to learn more about the ranch and the animals.
Ten years ago, she started seriously giving tours though it's a small mom and pop operation. They began with just two tours a day but now offer four. When they bought the ranch in 2008, their accountant told them alpacas were selling for big bucks ($10,000 for two!) and easy to take care of. Their goal was to make enough money to take care of vet bills and food for the animals. They now have a souvenir store, three RV's that guests can stay in, and are linked to Airbnb - sounds like their accountant steered them in the right direction!
In another pasture were Scottish Highland cattle who were owned by a neighbor who bought the cattle before purchasing a farm. The cattle each weighed 2,500 pounds so it was no fun at all to give them shots, Sonia told us!
Sonia said she or her husband come down from their home with the tractor to rake the communal 'poo pile' to fertilize the pasture!
Icelandic sheep and a Nigerian mini-goat!
In another pasture closer to their home was something I heard about for the first time, an Alaskan Cache, that held food safe from bears and wolverines. The cache wasn't supposed to have a window but Sonia said she wanted one in it so here it was! Sonia and her husband had had these moose horns on every place they've lived.
Even though the ranch was already at 2,500-foot elevation, her husband built a replica of the Alaskan mountain, Denali, in the alpaca pasture as goats (and seemingly alpacas, too!) love to climb up hills! The alpaca had certainly beat the goat as to who was king of the mountain!
We were there just after the alpacas had received their yearly shearing. The cost was $35 for each one but the fee did at least include cutting their toenails and deworming.
It was very clear as we walked around the extensive property with Sonia that she wasn't the manager and owner of the ranch just in it for the money. She knew each animal by name and loved relating stories of each one! I had trouble, though, finding the time to write down all she said as I was there to admire the beautiful creatures, so I lost track of which was Suri, Rose Star, Chocolate Marshmallow, and Grey Star - my bad as our son, Alexander, would have said!
I think this was Grey Star but don't quote me on it!
At that point in our private tour, Sonia explained that she needed our help transferring the alpacas, sheep, and goats to another pasture. Luckily, a family who had also been touring the ranch with a member of Sonia's family, were also there to help!
We all had to say, "Packa, packa, packa" and sure enough, they all did come trotting through the gate! I was sure glad we stood safely to one side because they seemed to be in quite a rush to get to where the grass was greener! By the time the alpacas are six months old, they are taught to walk on a lead line.
"We left someone behind" they seemed to say!
The last one to come through the gate was an Icelandic sheep called Celine. If animals were born on the ranch, Sonia said they were named after stars in the sky; otherwise, she just tries to remember their names! She stressed that all the animals got on well together.
Don't you just want to pet and hug Milky Way?!
What would a ranch be without a barnyard cat and a few hens?! The red hen was a Delaware variety and the black and white one was a Wyandotte, first developed in the 1870s and named for the indigenous Wyandot people of North America,
These adorable rabbits had just been born at the end of April, two months earlier.
The turkeys only get fed in the winter when they truly can't access food, Sonia told us. She puts out food for them and the pregnant elk who frequent the ranch in the wintertime. These were Sussex chickens imported from England and each lays 260 eggs a year.
Snickerdoodles was the last animal to come on the ranch and was by far the noisiest! I got a sense Sonia or her husband must have had a sweet tooth judging by the candy names of some of their animals!
One of our last stops on the ranch was the large barn used by the goats when it rains and for the alpacas in the winter.
The bales of hay were purposely stacked at different heights so the goats could climb up them.
I cannot ever remember a more beautiful place to wash my hands than this idyllic view.
Our delightful visit was capped off by the self-serve shop on the property that sold some beautiful products, some of which contained items harvested from the ranch. How I wish Steven and I could bring our two granddaughters, Max and Clara, here someday - I would love to see all the adorable animals through their innocent eyes.
Posted on October 30th, 2020, from our home in Littleton, Colorado. As we all see such a huge spike with the number of Covid-19 cases everywhere, please stay safe, healthy, and connected.
