 What’s the difference between a llama and an alpaca? This might be the question I am asked most frequently by people finding out I raise llamas for the first time. Unsurprisingly there are quite a few blogs and articles related to this question when you start an internet search. If you are familiar with llamas you will be disappointed with much of what you find, and if you are unfamiliar with them you will likely get a bad first impression. That is why I have created an infographic and this accompanying article to try to correct some misconceptions that have floated out onto the internet.
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4-H is a wonderful program. It teaches kids responsibility, leadership, communication, the importance of hard work, and how to strive to be better than you were yesterday. Any 4-H program is an excellent thing to be involved in, and I don't endeavor to drag down any other 4-H project you and your family might be interested in. I spent my whole childhood in a llama 4-H club, so I may be a little biased when I say I think they are the best option available. Here are five good reasons to take a strong look at llamas for your next 4-H project:
 Photo credit: Kay Patterson. Published in the Walkabout II catalog. Robert Downey Jr. hit theaters this week in the remake of Dr. Dolittle that is getting some underwhelming reviews. We thought it was a good time to remind people about the best Dr. Doolittle. It's not Eddy Murphy from 1998, or Rex Harrison from 1967, and we're not going to discuss the book from 1920. No, our Dr. Doolittle is from 1975. He was the first celebrity llama stud, producing over 300 crias.
We have made it a bit of a mission in 2020 to help put out some positivity out into the world. As kind of a fun thing we present our top five llamas of the last decade!
Honorable mentions- we considered a lot of names. Something you may notice is that our list contains no female llamas. We did consider a couple of lady llamas. We talked about GNLC Silver Lining, who produced several show winners. Jerrika also suggested Nevara, whose $20,000 auction price at the Hinterland Walkabout Finale was donated to the ILR-SD. Other herdsires like Argentine Mach One, Wunsapana's Aslan and LAMS Nutcracker were also talked about. In the end we came up with our list of five, but we encourage you to name your five, especially if they are different from ours!  The short answer is yes... but will they? Probably not. Do they spit at people? 99% of the time the answer to this one is no. Spitting over food The most common time you see llamas (or alpacas) spitting is when they are competing over food. For people who are lucky enough to spend a lot of time with llamas this is the most common time they have accidentally been spit on. The llama is telling its herd-mate to back off and the person happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. With a bit of awareness and some herd management this is avoidable. Read Darrell's recollections about the record setting llama sale, including the highest selling llama of all time, Newevo for $220,000. Click here to read the full interview inside of issue three  Darrell remembered, “When you got that catalog no matter how you felt towards Bon or how you felt about suris you couldn’t hardly stay away, you had to be there. It was amazing. They were promoters, the pictures were unbelievable. There were 200 pictures in that catalog; there wasn’t a bad picture in the bunch. I can’t imagine how many hours they spent getting those pictures.”
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AuthorKyle Mumford is a third generation llama owner, and his family has owned llamas since 1980. Kyle and his wife Jerrika have a herd of approximately 25 llamas in Southwest Washington. Categories
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