I feel pretty, oh, so pretty!

I was going to post this picture today and say something silly like, "You look mahvelous, darlin'!" Then I cropped the picture to make it show up better. That's when I saw the tooth sticking out. Oh my gosh -- how funny is that! Click on the picture to see it bigger. I'm pretty sure this is an alpaca, not a llama. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong because I always confuse the two. I took this picture at The Mirage in Las Vegas, at the Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden. Stupid as it may be, they don't list these animals on their site. They only list the cool animals like lions, tigers, leopards, and dolphins. But there are others like alpacas and swans. So, being the animal nerd I am, had to look up alpacas to see what I could find ...

• Alpacas come from South America.
• They live at altitudes between 3,500 to 5,000 feet.
• Alpacas are smaller than llamas.
• They were bread for their fiber, or hair.
• Unlike sheep, alpaca fiber has no lanolin.
• Alpaca fiber is naturally water-resistant.
• The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors.
• Alpacas can be bred with llamas, offspring called huarizo.
• Not all alpacas spit, but they're capable of it.
• They don't like having their feet, legs, or belly touched.
• Alpacas use communal dung piles.
• Twin alpaca births are rare, only 1/1000.
• They eat hay, grass, and leaves.
• Alpacas chew their cud.
• The need their nails and teeth trimmed every year.

I guess it's time for that tooth trimming for this little guy or gal. I've seen a few alpacas on farms around here. Funny looking things, that's for sure!