Booga-Booga with Alpacas

[pacajoyce]

I was reading on Alpacasite about a game that Steve Hull plays with his alpacas. Young alpacas play a game with each other that he called "mock fear." One alpaca will chase the other and the other one will turn and pretend fear, then dash off inviting a game of chase. Well apparently Steve made a mock game of chase where he took a fewing running steps towards his alpacas...they run away...then he turns and runs the other direction and looks back at them like, well come on and play. Well, after a few attempts, the alpacas got the message that he was inviting them to play, and they then would chase him and he would chase them and back and forth in the dance the alpacas do every night.

Now this sounds :confused: like really great fun, but I am wondering if this couldn't just frighten your alpacas? Marty, what do you think about this "game" with one's alpacas? :confused:

[Marty McGee Bennett]

This sounds cute but I think this is not a good idea for several reasons...
I think it is a bad idea to relate to alpacas like another alpaca... What happens when these youngsters decide to come running across the pasture and bump the human playmate from behind or bite his legs or spit because these are all behaviors that alpacas do with each other. I don't think we can pick out one cute fun behavior and assume that the alpacas will leave it at that.
I also think many alpacas would find this perplexing and frightening and would learn to give the human a wide berth because they might decide to "play" chase.
The power differential is too large between humans and alpacas for us to ever really be trusted in this kind of game.
So for all these reasons I would do the TTouch with my alpacas for fun and let them do the evening dance all by themselves.