Meet Loulou the llama.
Isn’t she lovely? She has dark, soulful eyes and long eyelashes. Her hair feels like yarn and her long neck is easy to hug.
And she has a hidden talent… SHE SPITS! She spits really, really well. Up to ten feet away!
Llamas spit when they feel threatened or don’t like something. It’s their way of saying, “Get away” or “NO!” Apparently, female llamas spit when an unappealing male llama approaches.
Imagine if it was normal for everyone to spit whenever they didn’t like something. Do you want to practice the piano? SPIT! Do you want to go to the dentist? SPIT! Could be pretty gross! But also pretty fun??
Thankfully, Loulou didn’t mind me so much. She and I understood each other, so we became good friends.
Llamas normally live in South America, especially in countries like Peru. When I visited Peru many years ago, I met a ton of llamas there. Most were friendly, but a few were pretty cranky, so I kept my distance from them. You can tell a llama is about to spit if it looks nervous. Its ears flatten back and it raises its chin. It might also shuffle its feet nervously. It also makes a weird noise as it gathers spit, so watch out! Be sure to step away by at least 20 feet. Actually, RUN!!
Fortunately, I didn’t get any llama spit on me when I visited Peru. I heard it smells pretty bad!
Do you have a hidden talent? Hopefully it doesn’t involve spitting…
