Guard Llamas & City Cats (in the country)

Elizabeth wrote, "A breeder told us that he has 22 alpacas and two llamas, the llamas protect the alpacas better than dogs from predators apparently."

Llamas are often used as guard animals for alpaca, sheep, goats, and other animals. I've heard stories of people finding dead coyotes in pastures guarded by llamas--apparently the llamas trampled the intruders to death before they were able to approach any of the other livestock!

Pretty wild. Llamas weigh some 300-350 pounds and up, and they are extremely alert and wary. Not shy, like horses, but so fascinated by whatever passes by--deer, dogs, joggers, bicycles, whatever--our two boys stand right at the fence and just stare with fascination at whatever is in view. It's really funny!

She adds, "I also have a dumbass city-girl question: Do you let your cats outside with the chickens and various wildlife? (You can stop laughing now.)"

LOL--okay, no laughing. I do let our city cats out a little in the warm weather, but keep them pretty well supervised, since we live fairly close to the road. Plus, Grey Cat is 16 and doesn't want to do much but lie in the sun anyway.

However, Emma, our crazy tortiseshell, chases whatever is in view--chickens, bugs of any size (like wasps--eek), and took to beating up my parents' young cat last year. Once Emma drew blood she sent my mom into a cat-chasing frenzy with broom held high, and her outdoor privileges were pretty much revoked by summer's end.

I did take the precaution of getting them rabies shots, but neither of them are out long enough (or unattended long enough) to get after any rodents (or kill any chickens, either, lol).

However, our youngest cat, Copernicus, was more of a rover, and did get killed on the road one night last year. This was pretty devastating, and further curtailed outdoor excursions for the other two (and my parents' cat as well). I actually wish I could let them outdoors more, but the 60+ mph traffic on our little two-lane road is too scary for me.

Great luck with your adventure!