| Differences
between Prey Animals and Predators with
John Mallon Welcome
back, and thanks for tuning in…
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“We
are meat-eaters… lamas are meat…”
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Let’s
visit a bit more about the differences between prey animals
(llamas, alpacas, guanacos, etc.) and predators (dogs, cats,).
We can’t dance around this issue — I hear people
sometimes say “I don’t like to think of myself as
a predator; “I don’t want to think of this as a
predator-prey interaction”. Fine, then, don’t; but
realize that that is how the llama or alpaca views it, whether
we like it or not, and there is absolutely nothing we can
do to change that simple fact. We are meat-eaters (whether
individually vegetarian or otherwise), lamas are meat, to
put it in its most basic light. This doesn’t mean that
we have to approach the llama or alpaca in a predatory fashion,
stalking and “attacking”/ it means that we have
to try to understand another creature’s point of view,
a point of view which is far outside of our experience.
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“You
probably have never truly felt like a prey animal…”
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Unless
you’ve ridden a New York City subway or attended a llama or alpaca
association’s annual fund-raiser, you probably have never
truly felt like a prey animal, subject to attack at any moment,
in fear for your life, all senses turned up to “high,”
alarm systems “hot.” Forgive me an attempt at humor
there, but this is the crux of the matter — llamas and alpacas are
different from anything we’ve been around before, and
we can never change what they are, only how they respond to
outside stimuli in their world, as they see it. Their perception
is every bit as valid as mine, and their perception is their
reality, simple as that. Let’s
say I show up in, oh, Oregon, for a clinic weekend. The temperature
at 8:00 a.m. is 50 F., and I, being from Southern California,
am thinking it’s a bit chilly this morning, and an attendee,
who happens to be from Montana, feels a bit on the warm side
— well, who’s right? Where is the line that separates
warm from chilly, hot from cold? If my perception of this
morning is that it is chilly, there is no way on earth that
you’re going to talk me out of it or convince me otherwise,
any more than I’m going to talk the Montana person out
of feeling warm. We are both 100% correct in our assessment
of the weather. So, rather than fight the facts, let’s
try to come to some workable arrangement, say he loans me
his sweater…
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“Llamas
seem to prefer that you never lay a hand on them…”
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In
our last visit, we talked about the llama’s innate fear
of novelty, his highly-developed sense of self-protection,
and his unique (to prey animals) vision. Another major difference
is in regards to touch — have you ever noticed how much
dogs and cats love to be petted and stroked, whereas llamas and alpacas
seem to prefer that you never lay a hand on them? “What’s
the matter with this animal?”, we wonder. There’s
absolutely nothing wrong with him; llamas and alpacas do not inherently
like to be touched. Call them touch-aversive, if you will.
Llama mamas do not lick their babies in the manner of cats
and dogs (and wolves and tigers..), so touch is not imprinted
as a pleasurable sensation on the cria, and tolerating and
accepting touch later on must be learned. Do not expect your
llama or alpaca to react to our petting and stroking as your predators
do. The only thing that touches llamas and alpacas out in the wild are
predators about to kill them. They are especially sensitive
about the face and eyes (first line of defenses — spotting
trouble), and the legs (escape from trouble). Understand this,
accept it, and help the llama or alpaca to overcome his fear of touch
so that you may work safely with him in any and all situations.
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“The
physical llama or alpaca has virtually no offensive weaponry…”
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Another
aspect of the physical llama or alpaca is that he has virtually no offensive
weaponry, no “artillery” to speak of. He hasn’t
antlers or hooves or fangs or horns; he has speed, instinct,
and a fearful nature to see him through danger. I’m not
saying that he lives his life a nervous wreck, but that he
is ready at the slightest provocation to run quickly from
any perceived threat, and in order for something to be perceived
as threatening, it has only to be new. Novelty is threatening
to a prey animal, and for him to willingly give up his foot
to us, making himself totally vulnerable, takes a tremendous
amount of courage and trust.
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“Movement
toward a prey animal triggers him to move away…”
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Movement
is the predatory trigger. Movement toward a prey animal triggers
him to move away from it, to put distance between himself
and whatever is “stalking” or “attacking”
him. Don’t take it so personally when a llama or alpaca moves away
from you as you approach or reach out to him — it is
an automatic response, requiring no thought process on the
part of the llama. To stand, though, and let us approach and
touch him — takes some thinking about — it goes
against his grain; his natural instincts have to be overridden
in order for him to be able to stand for it. It is just the
opposite with predators; the worst thing you can do if you
encounter a mountain lion along the trail is to turn and run
away from it — it will almost certainly attack; that
is the nature of the predator; movement attracts the animal
towards it. Interestingly, movement away from a prey animal
will also cause him to follow, once he has established that
there is no danger, because of his highly sociable nature
(safety in numbers) and herd mentality. Using this irony to
our advantage is what makes the round pen work so very effective.
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“The
llama or alpaca has an innate cooperative nature and is inclined
to accept and respect authority unquestioniongly…”
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The
llama, as a sociable, herd-oriented prey species, has an innate
cooperative nature. This inclination to accept and respect
authority unquestioningly is what prevents chaos and mayhem
within the herd. Call it social order, dominance hierarchy,
pecking order or whatever feels best to you, but recognize
the fact that it exists, and for good reasons, as stated,
and learn to use it to your advantage. There is no such concept
as equality in a herd of prey animals — everyone is either
above or below their herdmates. Each animal knows and accepts
his position, and acts accordingly. In
our next visit, we’ll talk about this hierarchy in a
bit more depth, and what it means to be number one. Until
then, Happy
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