kanga
08-07-2005, 04:29 PM
Can you help me understand what this means and how I should respond:
On our farm we have a small llama herd of geldings and soon-to-be geldings. There are three seniors (9+ years), six young adult (3 to 4 years), and three juveniles (15 months to 2 years, one gelded and the other two to be gelded this fall).
One of the young adult llamas is what you describe as the hard-wired type, very vigilant and easily spooked when out on walks. He has a modest to low social position in the herd. When we go on walks or work on obstacles with "Jedi" he puts his ears back and clucks frequently at the other llamas who are with us, although they ignore him. This is an annoying trait and will inhibit his ability to fit in with the 4H program that we would like him to assist with. His clucking unnerves the children and makes them fear that he will spit at them, although to my knowledge he has never spit at a human. He has trouble concentrating on the task at hand because he is so intent on monitoring the other llamas and clucking at them.
Jedi also will react to our entry into the paddock with clucking and sideways posturing from a distance (15 to 20 feet away), and if the herd mills around he will climb the dung pile and posture there. We have been using our wands to direct him off the pile in a firm but not aggressive way, but I am not sure if this is the correct response.
Jedi has a healthy respect of human personal space, so my feeling is that these behaviors may be defensive in nature. I'm grateful for whatever help you can give me in interpreting this behavior and identifying an appropriate response for us.
Laurie
On our farm we have a small llama herd of geldings and soon-to-be geldings. There are three seniors (9+ years), six young adult (3 to 4 years), and three juveniles (15 months to 2 years, one gelded and the other two to be gelded this fall).
One of the young adult llamas is what you describe as the hard-wired type, very vigilant and easily spooked when out on walks. He has a modest to low social position in the herd. When we go on walks or work on obstacles with "Jedi" he puts his ears back and clucks frequently at the other llamas who are with us, although they ignore him. This is an annoying trait and will inhibit his ability to fit in with the 4H program that we would like him to assist with. His clucking unnerves the children and makes them fear that he will spit at them, although to my knowledge he has never spit at a human. He has trouble concentrating on the task at hand because he is so intent on monitoring the other llamas and clucking at them.
Jedi also will react to our entry into the paddock with clucking and sideways posturing from a distance (15 to 20 feet away), and if the herd mills around he will climb the dung pile and posture there. We have been using our wands to direct him off the pile in a firm but not aggressive way, but I am not sure if this is the correct response.
Jedi has a healthy respect of human personal space, so my feeling is that these behaviors may be defensive in nature. I'm grateful for whatever help you can give me in interpreting this behavior and identifying an appropriate response for us.
Laurie