Monday, May 10, 2010

Monday, April 26, 2010

llamas&alpacas




The members of the family camelid in order of size are llamas, guanacos, alpacas, and vicunas. Alpacas are the domesticated version of the vicuna and llamas are the domesticated version of the guanaco. During early South American history, llamas were used for their strength to carry things up steep Andean mountains. Alpacas, on the other hand were used for their soft fleece.
Huacaya and Suri are the dominate types of alpacas. Huacaya alpaca " width="100" height="100">have poofy, afro-like fleece that seems to stand straight off the animal's body. Suri alpaca" have straighter hair which looks similar to dreadlocks. The alpaca is usually 120-170 lbs and somewhere around 5'6" to the tip of its ear. Alpacas can generally live to be between 20-25 years old.
The perk of owning alpacas and llamas is that they are non-aggressive and intelligent. Also alpacas use a central poop pile so they are clean and the poop makes great fertilizer! They are the ideal family pet and can be very loving when taken care of. Another fun fact about alpacas and llamas is that they can "speak" to each other by humming. The only downfall of owning alpacas is that a minimum of three are recommended per acre, but even that's not a downfall since the more the better!