photo by: Elvyn Jones

Collin Flory of the Jayhawk 4-H Club feeds hay to his 2-year-old llama, Dolly, Tuesday in a Douglas County Fairgrounds livestock barn. He will show the animal in the 4-H llama show Wednesday. Douglas County is one of the few county fairs in the state to have llama shows, said Douglas County 4-H Extension agent Kaitlyn Peine.

Dolly the llama’s nose kept close to the hand of Collin Flory as he grabbed a fist of bromegrass from a square bale Tuesday afternoon at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.

Soon, the 2-year-old llama was munching on the brome as Collin petted her black-and-white coat.

“Llamas make great pets,” Collin said. “She acts like a little dog. She’s really easy to take care of. All you have to have is a little pasture, give her a little feed in the evening and make sure she has water.”

Tuesday afternoon was a laid back time at the Douglas County Fair. Youngsters were caring and grooming the usual barnyard animals — cattle, pigs, goats and sheep — for the competition ahead.

Collin was spending his second day with Dolly in a livestock barn that was also the temporary home of four other llamas to be shown at the fair. On the other side of the barn’s central aisle were pens filled with cattle.

“Llamas are one of the unique things about the Douglas County Fair,” said Kaitlyn Peine, Douglas County 4-H Extension agent. “You’re not going to see llamas at many fairs in Kansas.”

Their appearance at the fair traces back to a few Douglas County families who were really big llama and alpaca fans, Peine said. One of those families — Mike and Robyn Kelso, of Eudora — continues to provide important volunteer support for the show, she said.

“It’s a really fun show,” she said. “They dress them up and have a lot of fun. And it’s in the morning when it’s cool.”

Collin, who will be an eighth-grader at Veritas Christian School this coming school year, said the show, which is at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the fairgrounds judging area, will have five categories: showmanship, pack, costume, obstacle and social. Of those, his favorite is the obstacle show, which requires Dolly to negotiate a course with such things as a low teeter-totter and baby pool.

“Dolly picked it up pretty quick,” Collin said. “They are really smart animals. You don’t have to work with them too much because basically they pretty much walk around with you.”

His least favorite category is “probably pack,” which harkens to the use of llamas as pack animals in the Andes of South America. There is even a part of the show where the llamas are dressed in costume. Dolly will grace the costume part of the show with a distinctly North American outfit.

“She will be the Statute of Liberty,” he said. “She will wear a teal tutu and a headdress.”

As Collin was talking, a fellow member of the Jayhawk 4-H Club asked if Dolly was his “bonus baby.” Yes, he said, explaining that his parents, Trent and Karen Flory, bought Dolly’s mother, Dixie, not knowing that she was pregnant.

“Her mother died right after she was born,” he said. “We had to raise her ourselves without a mother. But we have an alpaca to keep her company.”

Both were shorn before the fair, which will help Dolly maintain a good attitude, Collin said.

“It’s a little hot for her, but since she was recently sheared, she’ll be OK,” he said.