STANWOOD — Koko made lots of friends on Saturday.
Koko the llama gave hugs and kisses to just about anyone at the Stanwood-Camano Fair.
Owners Jody and Don Stanwyck brought him along with several alpacas from their farm in Carnation.
“He loves people,” Don Stanwyck said.
Passersby couldn’t help but fall for Koko’s charming personality. He kindly accepted hugs, thrusting his elegant neck toward many outstretched hands. Koko was demanding. If people stopped admiring him to talk to Stanwyck, the llama threw his head back with a frustrated grunt.
Tyler Rose, 12, of Granite Falls, became the llama’s instant friend.
“Their personality is kind of like humans,” he said about llamas. “When they are young, they are really curious. And when they are older, they have a more serious attitude.”
Tyler and his twin brother Ryan came to the fair with their grandparents.
The pigeons and rabbits were among Ryan’s favorite animals. Tyler especially liked the dog agility course.
“We saw some dogs that were too energetic to follow the rules of the competition,” Tyler said.
In the evening, the brothers came to watch the alpaca obstacle course. Stanwyck and Koko stood nearby.
The Stanwycks recently started a 4-H project. Two of the participants in the course were handling their alpacas.
The biggest challenge was to throw a sweater on the alpaca’s back. Alpacas think anything tampering with their legs or their back is a predator, Stanwyck explained. “Most exercises are about trust between the animal and the handler,” Stanwyck said.
One of the participants took a cautious approach. She first picked up the sweater and gently rubbed it on her alpaca’s neck.
Martha Barger, 26, and her daughter Summer, 4, sat down on a bench by the ring, snacking on grapes and apple slices.
This is the first year Barger, of Tulalip, decided to go to the fair. It’s been fun, she said. Especially when Summer ran in a stick pony race on Friday.
On Saturday, there was plenty left to do with all the games to play and rides to scream on. “There’s plenty of animals to look at,” Barger said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
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