Babies are what it is all about!! As our herd has grown with new crias, their antics have amused us for hours on end. Crias will run straight at a fence, and just at the last second, turn and bolt in the other direction, never breaking stride. ha-ha
These little fellows will endlessly pester the adults in their pasture. They will jump on members of the herd and tease them unmercifully. Llama babies are quite independent--up to a point. From their first day they will wander away from their dams, but they come scurrying back when they find something out of the ordinary---which is just about everything, in the first month of life.
They imitate their dams in everything they do. When mom makes a trip to the dung pile, baby will too. If mom decides to take a walk, so will her baby. Crias are a herd affair, the other females all are "aunties" and will watch a cria while the dam takes a quiet break or walk.
The most fun is just about dusk when usually the youngest cria will start "Pronging" (running and jumping up in the air with all four feet off the ground under their middle and than back down again) after awhile, he or she will have all the babies running in a single line all around the pasture, and sometimes some of the old dams too. It is amazing how graceful a 400 lb llama can be! Life is wonderful!!
