Wait a second—that doesn’t look like a guard-dog. It doesn’t bark. It squeaks. It’s tall, bushy, long-necked, and—well—goofy-looking. Plus, it spits! Who ever thought a silly llama would make a good replacement for Fido and Rex?

A Colorado farmer named Jeff Hasbrouck, that’s who. About four years ago, he started using llamas to guard his sheep. Needless to say, his neighbors wondered what in the world he was thinking!

Llamas are a great example of what it means to use an animal’s natural characteristics. Would you believe they actually make good guards? When a predator approaches, they let out a frightening, squeaky sound. They kick and spit on interloping animals. Llamas don’t like coyotes. But they’re also not afraid of them. That’s a handy trait when you have 40,000 sheep to watch over!

Llamas are just sassy enough to be good protectors. Judy Glaser has a llama farm. She says, "If you understand the personality of a cat, that's a llama. Where dogs have owners, cats have staff. Llamas have staff." But it sounds like llamas don’t make employees, either!

To top it all off, llamas are easy to keep. They eat grass. Unlike other animals, they don’t rip the grass up by the roots. They just nibble off the top. They’re animal-guards and lawnmowers all rolled into one! Now there’s a pet for you!