Tina gives Amanda her best diva look to let her know that she is not interested in putting the bridle on .
Tina , a llama , and Dolly , an alpaca , live on a farm between Autreyville and Pavo , where they are taken care of by Amanda Castellow and her family .
And speaking of families , llamas and alpacas are both part of the camelid family , which means they ’ re cousins . They are also cousins with the camel , whether it has one hump or two . When I walked up to the enclosure , Tina , the llama , came over and I put my hand out for her to smell . After a sniff , she walked off and I could tell she wasn ’ t impressed with me . Dolly , the alpaca , who seemed to be on the shy side , never approached but made a soft humming sound , which I took to mean that she was a little wary of me .
I had gotten to the farm just minutes ahead of Amanda , who is , for all practical purposes , the camelids ’ “ Mom .” When she got there , she told me that Dolly was the more timid of the two and Tina could be a bit of a diva .
I didn ’ t know much about camelids , aside from what I ’ d heard or seen on TV . I had seen alpacas at the Sunbelt Expo over the years and I ’ m pretty sure I ’ ve seen llamas at a zoo somewhere along the way . So , I believed , like a lot of folks do , that llamas spit at you , which is not completely true , Amanda told me .
“ Yes ,” they can spit , she said , but they don ’ t generally spit at people . She also said , if a llama was going to spit , you always got fair warning . She said Tina did spit at her husband when he had to give her a shot and I think that ’ s pretty understandable . I ’ m not a fan of shots either .
She said that both of the animals were very gentle but Tina , being a diva , liked to do things on her own terms . She also told me that they liked to be stroked or petted on their long necks .
“ They ’ re both more like cats than dogs , so they ’ re very curious animals . … And they have a keen sense , just like horses ,” she said . “ They know what you ’ re feeling . They can really sense body language .”
Amanda also pointed out to me some of the physical differences between the two , like alpacas are a little smaller than llamas and their wool is incredibly soft and short . I knew how soft their wool was because I had seen and petted them at the Expo , and Dolly was no exception . On the other hand , the llama ’ s wool sort of reminded me of a thick , shag carpet as it was long and twisted . Amanda said that she really couldn ’ t brush Tina ’ s long coat because it would end up being a frizzy mess .
12 MoultrieScene MARCH 2025