Here's a llama, there's a llama..

Working at camp, it wasn't uncommon for one to walk in on things like this:

A friend managed to capture this lovely picture.

It's good for a laugh. Until the kids see it. Then you get all kinds of awkward questions.

Or until you need the llama on the bottom for a llama walking class (notice the abandoned halter and lead rope). Let me tell you, pushing horny, male llamas off a female is not easy. Especially when there is a stack of them on top of her (actually, a stack of camelids, as the black one on top is actually an alpaca). And then you have Dalai over there (that's right, Dalai Llama) creepily waiting in line.

The first time I had to push them off (usually I just let them be), the boys got the female back down before I could get her away from them. Then I tried again, basically throwing myself against the big brown guy in the middle (for some reason, they were always in that order). We landed in a heap of llama fur and dust, and we flailed on the ground just long enough for the female to escape. The brown guy didn't like me much after that. I endured his evil, llama glares for the rest of the summer.

But then you walked in on things like this:

I actually took this picture a tad too late. They were cuddling just before this.

There's just something about armadillo/tortoise love that warms your heart and makes battling horny llamas (and wallabies... and other things I have yet to post about) completely worth it.