Saturday, April 14, 2012

Day 409: The Llamas

The hotel we're staying at (The Best Western Ponderosa Lodge - highly recommend it) has several llamas on the property and even has food available so guests can feed them.

We've learned so much about llamas since we've been here!
  • Llamas have banana shaped ears and flat backs.
  • Their wool does not have lanolin. People who are allergic to wool usually don't have problems wearing llama wool.
  • They guard against predatory animals. Sometimes llamas are merged into herds of sheep and goats to keep predators out.
  • Llamas can be used as pack animals and to pull carts. They can carry up to 100 pounds.
  • Most llamas cost from $1,000 to $5,000. Some show llamas can cost up to $20,000 or more.
  • They are native to Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. They are used there for their wool, but people in South America also eat the meat.
  • They live 15-25 years, weigh 200-450 pounds, and are 5-6 feet tall.
And here is one my husband found out first hand...
  • The purpose of spitting is to tell other llamas to leave them alone. Llamas don't just walk up and spit at people. However, people can be spit on when caught in the middle of a dispute between llamas. Just moments after this next picture was taken, the two llamas decided to get angry at each other (and hubby) over the food. Hubby got the bulk of the spit.