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Tall Tom and Kousco. Photo by: J. Rachau
Meet our sheep guards, Tom and Kousco, the llama
brothers. They were
adopted at 7 years of age in 2008 from a Deer Park, Washington Llama
Rescue Group - see PetFinder.com for more information:
http://www.petfinder.com
(search for Llama).
A shaggy alien
- LOL!
Photo by: J. Rachau |
Did you know? Some fun
llama facts: Yes, spit happens around a
llama. Generally they spit at other llamas to
establish herd pecking order, but llamas will spit at
enemies or people
if they have been mishandled or they are scared and feel
abused.
Llamas are from a family of animals called camelids,
which also include alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos in South America. They
are related to the camel and dromedary.
Along with the dawn
horse (Eohippus), llamas (camelids) also originated on the North American continent
thousands of years ago and all had died out, but thrived on other continents and
continued to evolve.
It was modern man that brought the horse and the llama back to North America,
the cradle of their species.
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Llamas do not have hooves.
They have toes, where the "nail" either wears naturally or needs trimming
depending upon the animal and the terrain it lives on.
Height:
36"- 48" at the shoulder, standing
up
alert - 5 to 6.5 feet plus at the raised head.
Weight: 200-450 pounds.
Life
span: 15 to 20+ years.
Coloration: Just about any natural hair
color in any combination. Spotted, white, black,
brown, red, tan, etc...
Llama are defined by their coats, but due to much
crossbreeding, these are approximate descriptions of type:
- Classic coated are double coated animals with long
guard hairs, shorter wool under coat, the hair on face and legs is short,
mature animals often have dense but short neck wool. They are
categorized as two types of classics:
- Ccara: short wooled
- Curaca: Medium wooled
- Woolly coated llamas have less guard hair and have long wool
undercoats good for fiber. They are categorized as two types of woollies:
- Tapada: heavy wool on
body, but little fringing on head or legs
- Lanuda (Tampuli) heavy
wool and fringes from ears to toes
Llama on duty. Photo by: J. Rachau
  
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