Farmers in Wisconsin noticed a baby alpaca was missing last week when it didn't return to eat dinner with its mother, prompting a search of the farm for the small animal.
"The baby is a week old and it always comes with its mother when I feed grain in the evening," said a farmer identified as John on the Govin's Farm Facebook page.
More than 24 hours after farmers noticed the alpaca was missing, John found the youngling trapped in a dirt hole and surrounded by its herd.
"The entire alpaca herd was lying around the hole," John said. "It was really strange to see because she was entirely underground when I first saw her."
The farm said alpacas love to roll around in the dirt and that the baby alpaca, also known as a cria or alpaclette, likely slid into an old badger hole while taking a dust bath.
A video of the rescue posted on Facebook showed John carefully shovel dirt from around the alpaca's head, while a concerned mama cautiously checks on her daughter.
It takes a few tries, but eventually John was able to pull the alpaclette from the ground.
The baby alpaca carefully stands, before mother and daughter kiss noses and then frolic off together.
Govin's Farm said the cria is doing "just fine" after being rescued.