Alpacas and llamas enjoy a late festive feast - of Christmas trees
- 4 months ago
Alpacas and llamas have enjoyed a late festive feast - after their owners treated them to recycled Christmas trees.
Mary Harvey, 68, has revealed that her three llamas and six alpacas 'love' to much on the festive trees.
One tree lasts about a week, but this year they have been given 40 trees by volunteers - which will last the animals a whopping four months.
Christmas trees - which are usually pine, spruce or fir - are a source of vitamin C and antioxidants, making them great dietary supplements for both alpacas and llamas.
Adorable photos show her animals happily eating a Christmas tree while another image shows Mary feeding them cucumber.
The charity owner said the animals like to graze on hedgerows, but there isn’t much available in winter, so Christmas trees provide a tasty and long-lasting alternative.
Mary, of Tregaswith, Cornwall, said: "I think it's a good snack to them and it tastes different to the other leaves they would normally get from the hedgerow.
"They are spikey so I'm surprised they like to eat them because Christmas trees are so spikey but they don't seem phased by it at all.
"I only started feeding them the trees around two years ago.
"We've had alpacas for 17 years but I didn't realise until two years ago that they like Christmas trees.
"It's been ideal because they eat from the hedgerows and they are bare at the moment.
"It supplements their feed."
Mary runs Chy Lowen Alpacas Tregaswith (CHAT), a non-profit organisation that's dedicated to helping children and young adults using animal-assisted intervention.
Mary Harvey, 68, has revealed that her three llamas and six alpacas 'love' to much on the festive trees.
One tree lasts about a week, but this year they have been given 40 trees by volunteers - which will last the animals a whopping four months.
Christmas trees - which are usually pine, spruce or fir - are a source of vitamin C and antioxidants, making them great dietary supplements for both alpacas and llamas.
Adorable photos show her animals happily eating a Christmas tree while another image shows Mary feeding them cucumber.
The charity owner said the animals like to graze on hedgerows, but there isn’t much available in winter, so Christmas trees provide a tasty and long-lasting alternative.
Mary, of Tregaswith, Cornwall, said: "I think it's a good snack to them and it tastes different to the other leaves they would normally get from the hedgerow.
"They are spikey so I'm surprised they like to eat them because Christmas trees are so spikey but they don't seem phased by it at all.
"I only started feeding them the trees around two years ago.
"We've had alpacas for 17 years but I didn't realise until two years ago that they like Christmas trees.
"It's been ideal because they eat from the hedgerows and they are bare at the moment.
"It supplements their feed."
Mary runs Chy Lowen Alpacas Tregaswith (CHAT), a non-profit organisation that's dedicated to helping children and young adults using animal-assisted intervention.