[Jacob-list] wether pictures. - animal interactions

[Heather Hettick]

Our llama, Taco, is really fun to watch with the sheep.  He is especially
bonded to our ram, Clansey, and they wrestle together.  Sometimes Clansey
chases Taco and tries to butt him, but Taco either runs or otherwise dodges
his efforts.  They usually end up pushing each other around and often end up
on the ground rolling around.  I used to worry they might hurt each other
but they both seem to enjoy it and act like the best of buddies the rest of
the time.  The one occasions when Taco seems to get really mad is when
Clansey tries to mount him, although I've never seen him spit at Clansey or
draw blood when he bites.

Taco also likes to lead his sheep to wherever he likes to eat or wants to
hang out.  Sometimes, if they don't "listen", he runs around with his head
down and sort of nips at them like a sheepdog and herds them where he wants
them.

Taco does a good job as a guard too, chasing deer and rabbits out of the
pasture when he sees them.  He lets the groundhog stay though and actually
chased one stray dog that I know of away.  I hear there are coyotes around
our area, but we haven't seen any or had any attacks so at least he's a
decent deterrent.

He even sniffs all the new lambs soon after birth and lets them play on his
back until they get too big. Now that the lambs are more mature, we watch on
cooler days as Taco has started chasing and pushing them around a little
too.  It's like he's putting them in their place or teaching them manners.

Heather Hettick
Moonstruck Jacob Sheep
Creston, OH
hettick.1 at osu.edu
home email: hettick1 at yahoo.com