WENTWORTH, Mo. — Instead of a watchdog, a ranch in Missouri has a watch llama.
Rancher, Sam Hayes, says the llama known as "Tony Llama" is very territorial. He can be counted on to make sure nothing harms his family's herd of cattle or his family members themselves.
Hayes recalls one time he has to distract Tony Llama so electrical crews could work on utility poles.
Kyle Hayes even carries a stick in case he has a feisty encounter with Tony Llama. "He'll run at you and he usually lowers his head down parallel with his body but then whenever he gets up to you," said Kyle. "He'll like kind of puff up his chest more and then if he really wants to attack you he'll stand up on his hind legs. And he's about 8 or 9 feet tall whenever he does that it's really intimidating."
The Hayes' say llamas are native to South American mountains -- but other farmers have used them on their ranches, along with mules and alpacas.
