All of our previous alpacas and llamas were rescue animals that either needed a new home or were physically injured to the point that they were going to be put down.

Llamas and alpacas make great companions to our Shetland sheep. These South American camelid are excellent guard animals against the larger predators we have here outside of St Louis, MO like wild dogs, coyotes, coy dogs, and mountain lions. While they can't defend against every predatory animal, they will usually give chase and attack by diving with their sharp knees pointed at the invaders.

These animals also give warnings when they sense danger by alarming with a high pitch horse-like scream. And, like camels, they will spit when agitated. Ours live such stress free lives that we might have just one spit once in a decade.

None of our alpacas or llamas are particularly friendly around people unless you have some feed. One of our male alpacas, Gabe, was the most curious and would sometimes come up to see if you had a treat and if he liked you, he might sniff your face. Gabe's favorite human interaction was to have his legs sprayed from the water hose as he splashed in a bucket.

Mozart is currently our only camelid. We brought him to our farm for his retirement from stud work when he was ten years old. He lived almost exclusively with other alpacas so it took months for him to acclimate to the many species he'd never before seen.

He now spends most of his time with our herd of Shetland sheep. Peggy calls him, 'Mo' as a nickname. Once you get him close he enjoys petting but mostly avoids people.