by David | Jan 21, 2014 | Feeding Llamas & Alpacas, Forest Grazing
Llamas love browsing in the forest, especially in winter when they are desperate for some fresh greenery. They are particularly fond of spruce, pine, larch and hemlock, but cedar will do when the others are in short supply. It’s rather peculiar that the llamas...
by David | Jan 20, 2014 | Aggression, Fighting Teeth, Fun and Games, Llama Behaviour, Llama Games
Llamas are very playful, especially the youngsters, although boys play very different kinds of games to the girls! Whereas the girls are practicing escape and evasion tactics to avoid predators and keep the youngsters safe, the males are combat training; vying with...
by David | Jan 17, 2014 | Feeding Llamas & Alpacas, Weaning
Weaning young llamas and alpacas is almost always traumatic and involves much crying and running around by the youngster who has just been separated from his or her mother. Weaning occurs naturally in llamas, anytime between 6 to 10 months. It is not unusual though,...
by David | Jan 16, 2014 | Deep Snow, Fence and Shelter
My humour-sense alerts me to potential failure when the snow reaches a depth of about three feet, especially, if it has snowed every day for the previous two weeks and my back is grumbling about having to clear the pathways yet again. I expect that the llamas feel...
by David | Jan 15, 2014 | Feeding Llamas & Alpacas, Llama Health, Water for Llamas
A fully grown llama will drink between four and eight pints (2.5 to 5 liters) of water every day during the winter months. In this part of the world, the animals at The Llama Sanctuary will be eating hay from October through to April and all dehydrated feed needs to...
by David | Jan 14, 2014 | Eyes & Eyelashes, Llama Body
All camelids (llamas, alpacas, camels, vicunas, guanacos) have Exquisite Eyelashes. Eyelashes aren’t just for show, they perform several important functions, especially for animals with large eyes. Llamas have extremely long, thick eyelashes. Eyelashes shield...
by David | Jan 13, 2014 | Dangers, Guard Llamas
We see a lot of coyotes in this region and we hear them calling to each other most mornings, but thankfully, coyotes don’t normally like to work in packs. We have seen the llamas use a variety of tactics in the presence of threats. In this case a single coyote...
by David | Jan 10, 2014 | Fun and Games, Llamas in Winter, Philosophy & Animals
You can sit in the barn and shiver and moan about how much snow has fallen or you can go out there and play in it. Life is all about choices and you can never blame anyone else for the choices you make. Go out there and have some...
by David | Jan 9, 2014 | Fiber Arts, Fibre Arts Bootcamp, Fundraising, Mega Knitting
Raising funds to pay for the care of the rescued llamas and alpacas in the sanctuary is always a challenge, and with so many charities competing for a limited number of donors, we try to do things a little differently, by providing something of value. Fibre Arts...
by David | Jan 8, 2014 | Fibre Arts Bootcamp, Fundraising, Llamas on Social Media
One of the most surprising events for us at The Llama Sanctuary has been the increase in traffic and sales to our sister website Fibre Arts Bootcamp, due in large part to PINTEREST. The majority of funding for the Llama Sanctuary comes from the sale of Mega Hooks and...
