Cresting a hill on the western edge of Coyote Ridge Natural Area earlier this month, I kept my eyes peeled for llamas. Yes, llamas.
The animals aren’t native to Northern Colorado, of course. They originally come from the Alitplano — South America’s vast and unforgiving high-altitude Andean plateau that spans Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
But with Colorado’s high altitude and semi-arid climate, llamas are plenty happy here, according to Stan Ebel, who runs a llama ranch south of Masonville. Colorado’s weather and native grasslands are conducive to their needs, and cold temperatures aren’t as extreme here as the Andes…