Rogue llama prompts comical response from local Georgia sheriff's office

It’s not every day that a llama goes on the lam — but when they do, they tend to make headlines.

In 2015, two rogue llamas in Arizona captivated viewers across the country with their daring escape. Then on Wednesday afternoon, a llama in the college town of Athens, Georgia took a page out of their book.

As the llama frolicked through traffic, a bystander called the local Oconee County Sheriff’s Office to report it — but apparently they weren’t quite sure what the animal was.

“Around 4:00PM, dispatch notified me that someone had reported ‘a baby camel running loose in Epps Bridge Road.’ Our deputies are not trained in South American camelid identification, but they quickly determined that the animal in question was actually a llama,” Chief Deputy Lee Weems posted on Facebook.

He went on to explain the process of reining in the animal, which involved a bag of carrots, the parking lot of a local fast food joint, and Captain Hale, the “llama whisperer.”

“Deputies, with the assistance of, and I kid you not, several llama experts who just happened to be traveling on Epps Bridge Road at that exact moment, managed to corral the llama in the dumpster area behind the Cook Out. We would also like to thank the good folks at Cook Out for providing a bag of carrots to help lure the llama into the dumpster area.”

The llama apparently just wanted to stretch its legs, and had gotten away from its owners at a home nearby. They came to retrieve the renegade llama from the dutiful officers, and went on their way.

“We do not know at this time whether it just wanted to go for a stroll or if it was concerned about the weather forecast this weekend and was attempting to buy bread and milk,” Cheif Weems joked. “I asked, but it refused to answer questions. Perhaps this is because I don’t speak Spanish nor any of the native Peruvian languages.”

In:
• Georgia