(Laura Pedrick for The New York Times)
"The rationale for llamas is somewhat different than for other types of livestock. Sheep ranchers acquire llamas as guard animals for their flocks. The sheep's natural predators, foxes and coyotes, generally will not tangle with a llama, which can be more than six feet tall. Llamas get along quite nicely with sheep, and when a llama senses danger, it emits a high-pitched whinny that alerts the farmer to bring the shotgun."--from an amazing article about NY-region llamas! The last line of the article is fantastic, but in no way refers to a llama. Look at the slideshow--you will see that llamas need no rationale, they are just beautiful animals!
Have you spent a lot of time with llamas? My brief impression has been that they're not the nicest animals, and spit a lot. Moreover, they can jump pretty high and are as such unsuitable for some people without adequately high fencing.
ReplyDeleteI have spent a lot of time with llamas (Hidden Valley Camp), and they only spit when provoked. I've never seen one spit. As for fencing, if I'm ever in a position to own llamas, I guess that would be something I'd have to look into, but I now live in an apartment that doesn't allow any pets at all...
ReplyDelete