Saturday, May 30, 2009

Noah Put Camelids on the Ark

When Noah gathered up the animals to put on the ark he evidently included camelids. There are Camelids all over the world today, from North Africa to South America. We all have seen the Middle Eastern Camel, but Mongolians have their own funky looking version of camel. Then there are the South American Llamas and Alpacas that originated from the Vicuna, which is in the Camelid family. It is likely that Noah put a Camelid on the ark, from which all these various Camelids find their origin. I wonder what that original pair of Camelids looked like?

I have included photos of the two new Cria (baby llamas) born to Kissy and Fancy Pants. Fancy Pants, in the first photo at the top, gave birth to Aspen. Kissy, the next photo below, is the mother of Glacier. Right now the only way I can tell the difference between the Cria is by their noses. Glacier has a slightly longer and ridged nose, whereas Aspen's nose is shorter and straight.

I intend to use them as breeders, so they will spend a lot of their years breeding, carrying, and giving birth to their own Cria. Their Sire is Quartz, who is a fine pack stud owned by Joyce O'Halloran. My own stud, Apollo, is still learning how to be a stud, but I am hoping that this year he will be able to breed with the females. Last year I had Fancy Pants and Kissy analyzed by breeding experts who graded them as Cara Llamas. Cara Llamas are bred to be workers/packers, which is the kind of llama I want to use for my own purposes. These llamas look athletic, have longer legs, and possess a "double coat" of hair. The double coat is a layer of fine insulating wool close to the skin with a layer of long guard hair on top. This characteristic double coat keeps them warm at night in the cold mountain air, but cool during the day when they are working.

Be sure to check out the video by clicking on the title of this post. They are delightful creatures.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, Joe! Thanks for posting,
Ken

Unknown said...

Joe, the babies are about as cute as any two llamas could be. Love the names. Dale thought Aspen was pretty cool. Great posting.