Koo, the llama, is a gentle spirit. He is peaceful and passive and moves willingly when Penne steps in to steal his food. Pushy Penne is relentless when it comes to the pursue of the best food given out at the time. Koo just quietly moves out of the way. Why push it. It's not like anyone at my place gets a chance to build up a roaring appetite.
But this morning he snapped.
Koo had just discovered the better quality hay left-over from Sunny's breakfast and moved in to enjoy his prize when running in like a locomotive or a big wool couch was Penne. Penne outweighs Koo by about 100 pounds so she is a force to be reckoned with.
He arched his neck and gave her a spit.
She just spit back.
He spit again, only more and louder.
She kept coming.
He had had enough....months of giving up his food came to a head in Sunny's pasture.
He reared up and attacked Penne. Kicking and striking he brought her to her knees. I was shocked...I had never seen any aggression toward each other....ever.
Penne did not back off...she was going to fight to the death for those 6 stems of green hay.
I was afraid to step in so the best I could do was to flail my shovel around wildly and shout. Llamas fight like a combination of horses and dogs. Rearing and kicking and wrestling and biting. They finally gave up but I think it was out of exhaustion since that was the most energy they have ever exerted...ever.
Both went to their respective corners and hung their lips down. Apparently that spit tastes so awful even they can't stand it.
Then Koo enjoyed his hay in peace.
15 comments:
Boy, I bet that got your adrenalin pumping, Wendy! Glad it ended fine.
It's scary when that sort of thing happens. I'm glad nobody got hurt.
Wow! I had a rescue llama that spit on me quite a bit. Not pleasant and yes, they have to hang their mouths open to "air out" it tastes as bad to them as it's distasteful to the person/animal spit on. :)
Oy. Penne must be related to Ella. However, I think head butting is much more civilized, don't you? By the way, that Cora Belle looks so much like Peanut is is spooky! talk about a family resemblance!
Marigold, I plan on nominating Cora Belle for next year's cutest kid contest. Seeing what good luck Peanut has had.
Scary....I am glad they did not get hurt, and I am glad Koo won the hay this time...he deserves a special treat for being such a sweetie all the time!
My mom has lama's and she loves them, but we had one that spit like a hot tea kettle. I was helping her with them one night and he spit at me, my mom yells "SPIT BACK AT HIM" I said - right like my breath and spit are gonna smell like that!!! I would have to 'shart' at him for it to mean anything!!! LOL She laughed till her sides hurt... I have never seen them fight.... but hav heard the humming etc. and love to hear them converse. what a couple little stinkers - :)
I'm so glad to hear noone got hurt. And, while I don't advocate violence, I commend handsome, gentle Koo for standing up to the bossy Penne. Bad llama girl!
It's the opposite way in our barn. Catlinite, the gelding, is bossier, while Cataleya, the female/half-sister, is sweeter and more timid. She will hum incessantly to me so I will get Catlinite away from the hay or pellets, if he is hogging them.
If I'm in the paddock, she'll walk over and gently nudge me until I come help her.
I shake the llama bean rake at Catlinite until he backs away and lets my poor girl eat. lol!
I've handled alot of nasty stuff in my lifetime and I must say being spat upon by llama cud is about the nastiest stuff on this planet. It's instant shower time for me. I bought a spit bag to place on the llamas when I have to trim nails and shear fleece, so I never have to experience that ever again. Eww!
By the way, I always love reading about your beautiful llamas :)
~Lisa
New Mexico
Good on Koo for sticking up for his feed - Score one for the underdog!
There's an Alpaca at The Farm, and it's the sweetest, most laid-back beastie ever. Sne never spits on anyone - But then, they all leave her alone, too. I guess the camalid reputation proceeded her.
Opps. And I forgot to mention that I've got a little something fun for you at my blog. Pop on over and pick it up when you have a minute :)
~Lisa
New Mexico
I feel the same as Koo when someone reaches for the Bacon from my plate.
Lol, I wonder if our barb horses are related to llama's! Sahara will boss around and bushes any other creature away. Arwen just stands there and accepts being shoved away, but should she ever react, it's explosive. The good thing is that Sahara is really smart and knows when we tell her off, so I can clap my hands from a distance and go "Oh no you don't, Sa-HA-ra!" and she'll put on a huge show of protest but still back away... :-D That's how things go over at Isthar's Ark!
Yikes. Yeah, I was gonna say this is how I react, too, when someone tries to steal my peanut butter m and m's....Im glad the two are okay. I have been around llamas and have yet to see them spit....its one thing that I do not look forward to.
wow- that's some real llama drama!Glad that everyone made it out unscathed, but I'm sure it was a sight to behold. Our rabbits don't quite provide such entertainment... =) And, the cows back home simply push eachother around, but nothing spectacular like you had! =)
Just wanted to tell you I love your blog. We used to have a llama, he would spit at the goats when they would annoy him too much but he never spit at us.
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