Bernice Pearce-Hiers feeds an “ alfalfa snack ” to Tina the llama at the Willow Lodge Personal Care Home .
And , as far as hair care goes ,
Dolly and Tina are sheared once a year . This year , Dolly ’ s soft fur is being donated to the art teacher at R . B . Wright Elementary School for an art project .
Amanda said that she had a love for the animals but a very limited knowledge about how to train them and care for them , so she was still learning and knew she had more to learn .
She said there is an animal rescue , Redemptive Love Farms , in Miccosukee , Florida , that had a large herd of llamas . So , she was going down to attend a seminar to learn more about how to keep the girls healthy . I asked Amanda what the girls thought of the snow in January , and she said they loved it , which made sense as both alpacas and llamas originated in the Andes Mountains in South America . She said they preferred to be out in the open and would even stand out in the rain rather than under a shelter . “ They don ’ t like enclosed spaces ,” she said . The next thing was to get the girls bridled and loaded into the horse trailer for their visit to Willow Lodge . Dolly was relatively easy for Amanda to bridle but Tina was more reluctant . She definitely gave Amanda a haughty look , at one point , and turned her back on her a few times , giving her the “ side-eye .”
However , once they were both bridled , they were easily led to the trailer and we were soon on the road .
We had a few minutes before the residents of the home were ready for their visit so Amanda and I chatted and I asked the million dollar question , “ How on earth did a llama and an alpaca come to live with your family ?”
14 MoultrieScene MARCH 2025