I read a book.

Oh, it wasn’t any kind of book that you would go into raptures about — just a cute little mystery story that had you figuring out whodunit about midway through it. The heroine had Llamas, though. That is kinky.

It just so happens there is a Llama farm not too far from me and not long after I finished the book, I drove by it and saw they had some new arrivals. I didn’t have my camera with me as luck would have it, so the idea for photos and this blog post continued to ferment in my brain.

Well, there’s something very endearing about babies of any variety, but baby Llamas just have something extra. Their long spindly legs and equally long necks combined with those huge long-lashed eyes just are darling! The babies are called Cria and they’re born with lots of hair and all the lovely manners of their parents. In other words, if you alarm one, he or she is going to reach back into one of its stomachs (the more upset, the further back) and spit the contents onto you. Thankfully, when I visited the Egypt Farm in Honea Path this week to get these photos, I didn’t upset anyone, so did not experience this phenomenon first hand. Forewarned was forearmed in this case.

Llamas are just sort of cobbled together from several animals I’m familiar with. They are camel-like with their split toed hooves and cow-like with their multiple stomachs. They are dog-like in intelligence and cat-like with their curiosity. I know — just a weird animal all the way around.

Used in Peru to haul ore from mines in the Andes, after more modern technology came along Llamas were then used as wool producing animals. The variety known as Alpaca has a very silky feeling wool. Llama wool is not like sheep wool. It’s hollow and strong and makes a lightweight but warm garment.

Llama’s don’t mate like other animals either. The doe lies down in what is called a “kush” position with all 4 legs folded under her and the ram mounts her in this position. Eleven months later, if the breeding took, you get a critter like the one in the photo.

Egypt Farm has other animals besides the Llamas. They also breed miniature donkeys (Sicilian donkeys) and had a crop of young colts to show me. One of the donkeys served as my tour guide while I was there. Dogging my every step, he took every available opportunity to get ears scratched or head petted. That’s him over there on the left — a charmer if I ever met one.

So, are you totally convinced that I’m certifiable now? What do you think of my pets? Aren’t they cool — c’mon now — I know you really think so!

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