Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
In my head, llamas have always been fairly docile pack animals. Until now. Mimi Smartypants links to an article about a llama attacking its owner, in which the llovable beast cracked his owner's sternum and bit through his bicep right to the bone. The animal was euthanized and its head sent for llaboratory analysis. But that wasn't the part of the article that frightened me. No, it was this llovely passage:
The noise graduated to a high-pitched squeal, whereupon Charlie spit, flattened his ears back and bared his teeth, including the three sets of razor-sharp "fighting teeth," which llamas use to rip the scrotum from male competitors in the wild.
Aaaaaaaaugh!!! Get that mental image out of my head! It's 5:30 and I can't get up from my desk to go home because it would require unclenching my legs. I see a new challenge for Tu Jin-Sheng in the offing. Also, why would anybody name a llama anything other than Lloyd?
TrackBackOh yes the llamas at Penland were sequestered to avoid llama fights (I guess they knew about the scrotum ripping) but even the ladies would get into tussles from time to time (likely of the who-you-callin-fat variety) - but I didn't know about the three sets of fighting teeth - makes knitting into a contact sport, no ?
Posted by: owlmother at November 28, 2005 08:25 PMThey have a commercial on CNN for ilovealpacas.com. It runs all the time and at work when it gets rough we joke about running away to raise llamas.
But not once do they mention the fierce unpredictable nature of these woolly menaces! It's terrible how deceptive advertising is these days.
Posted by: winna at November 28, 2005 09:36 PMThere's three llamas we see on our morning ride 'round here. We call them Lloyd, Llarry, and Llu-Llu.
The Lama
The one-l lama,
He's a priest.
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama.*
Odgen Nash
Although, I was talking to a fireman in Boston about a large fire the other day. It sounded like he said it was a "three l-lama."
adm
Posted by: admadm at November 28, 2005 10:36 PMI've also heard that you can't leave male llamas penned up with any other livestock because basically they'll try to mate with anything with a pulse. And they don't go for the subtle seduction either, it's all just brute force with those llamas.
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at November 29, 2005 09:01 AMGaijin, you'll be pelased to know that the head of the Nassau County (NY) Democratic party has a llama named Dolly. They're quite popular on Long Island, for some reason.
Posted by: at November 29, 2005 11:29 AMProbably helps in keeping the feral Long Island scrotum population under control.
Posted by: apostropher at November 29, 2005 11:31 AMI'd like to see the Intelligent Design folks try to explain the rationale (other than that the Intelligent Designer has a deeply sick sense of humor) for llama scrotum-ripping behavior.
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at November 29, 2005 12:05 PMAlso, I'd like to see a Celebrity Grudge Match between Grandmaster Tu Jin-Sheng and a randy male llama.
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at November 29, 2005 12:09 PM"And in this corner, direct from the high mountain passes of Peru, Jaaaack the Riiiipppper!!!!"
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at November 29, 2005 12:11 PM