L-Lamas

Last episode, Just Runaway, we left our characters just as they were about to find out about the l-lamas!  Who are they?  Why does Perry seem so afraid of them?  What’s with the 2 Ls?  

Jump into this episode and find out!

We want to give a HUGE shout out to our guest voice actor Juliet Hutchins.  She also inspired today’s script about Perry the Lonely Donkey and his llama encounter.

New words and phrases in this episode: 

• Petrifying
• Cud
• Sanctuary

After Listening Can you answer these questions?

• Why does llama have a double L?
• Do llamas have hooves or toes?
• How do llamas protect sheep

Themes: 

• Friendship
• Standing up to bullies
• Asking for help

Transcript

PERRY: Oh I don’t know if I can go back home.  

KITTEN: Why not?

PERRY: Oh it would be too embarrassing.  

FERAL: What is so embarrassing about running away.  I have run away from many things.  I am not embarrassed.  

BRIGITA:  Are you afraid the farmer might be mad?  

PERRY: No its the l-lamas.  (sfx)

CLUCKY: The what now? 

PERRY: The l-lamas (sfx) 

PERRY:  They are the worst!  L-loyd, L-larry and L-leonard.  

BRIDGET: Are you stuttering because you are that afraid of them?  

PERRY: No that is how they say their names.  Because l-lamas is spelled with two l’s at the beginning, they all have names with two l’s as well.  

KITTEN: But the second l in llama is silent. You don’t pronounce it.  

PERRY: It is not!  L-lamas? Well they say l-lamas and they say both l’s in their names as well. 

BRIGITA:  Why are there two l’s in llama?  

KITTEN: Because the word llama is from South America where they speak Spanish.   In Spanish, the double "l" is pronounced the way English speakers would pronounce the "y" in "yard." In English, the double "l" at the beginning of a word like "llama" is pronounced just as if it were a single "l." In other words, English speakers borrowed the spelling from Spanish but altered the pronunciation.

BRIDGET: So if we were in South America it would be pronounced yama and not llama?  

KITTEN: Correct Bridget. 

CLUCKY: So their names would actually be Yoyd, Yarry and Yenard. 

PERRY: (Donkey laugh) That certainly makes the evil llamas seem less scary. 

FERAL: I completely agree. Llamas are petrifying!  

CLUCKY:  What they can fly too? 

KITTEN: No, Clucky, petrifying it means to make (someone) so frightened that they are unable to move.

FERAL: I did not mention ze llamas to you when I told you about my journey to Washington? Oh la la, mon dieu. I thought for sure that was going to be the end of my nine lives. I encountered one as a meandered through a pasture and suddenly I was covered in this disgusting green substance. Then it tried to bite at me and kick me and it had crazy toes that would try to stab at me. I barely got away. Thankfully there was a fence that it couldn’t cross so that’s how I made my escape. Then it took several days before I was able to get all zis green goo off of my fur and I haven’t even mentioned ze disgusting smell it had. Do you know how difficult it is to get away from a smell when it is yourself?

BRIGITA:  That sounds ghastly! 

FERAL:  I was very fortunate to find a stream the next day to bathe myself completement, otherwise I’m not sure I would not have gone completely mad smelling so badly and feeling so disgusting. 

PERRY:  I agree, they are so mean!  Hee Haw! The farmer put me in their fenced pasture a few days ago.  I think he said that he thought we might get along and I could make some new friends.  I must have heard him wrong because they were not friendly.  

BRIGITA:  What did they do? 

PERRY:  Well at first they seemed ok.  They introduced themselves and then they started asking me questions. 

BRIGITA:  That does not sound so bad.

PERRY: But not nice questions like all of you ask but questions like: Why are you so small?  L-loyed said I barely came up to his knees. That was not actually true. I was almost to his shoulder. However, he had to bend his neck almost in half to look at me. 

BELLA: That is not very nice. 

PERRY: L-larry said, Why are your ears drooping down?  It makes you look even smaller and sad. I tried to tell him that for a long time they stood up but I was sad and missing Ella and Percy.  Then they started chanting l-lonely l-little l-loser at me.  

KITTEN: They sound just awful! Do they add an extra L to everything? 

PERRY: I think just the words that start with L. Then L-leonard What is wrong with your feet?  You just have one little hoof at the end.  What good is that?  I told him that my hooves help me walk on all kinds of land from grassy fields to rocky paths without a problem. I can even carry heavy loads and pull carts.  My hooves are very stable.  

CLUCKY:  What did he say to that? 

PERRY: He just scoffed and said they all could carry heavy loads but they two toes and not hooves.  He said their toes were better as they could use them to defend against predators. I just felt so bad about myself compared to them.  

BRIGITA:  Well they sound like a pack of bullies. 

PERRY: Then L-larry asked if I wanted to play a game.  I said yes, I love games.  

CLUCKY: What was the game?  

PERRY: Spit the tail on the donkey. 

CLUCKY: Spit the tail on the donkey?  That does not sound like a very fun game. 

PERRY: It was not! They told me to run and then they took turns spitting at me.  It was this supper gross green gunk.  

KITTEN: That is terrible! (Exclamations from other characters)

BRIDGET: Oh Feral that must have been what you were covered in. 

FERAL: Sacre bleu, these barbaric creatures. We french do not use spit as a weapon. 

KITTEN: llamas can spit their cud, that is the partially digested food, 10 to 15 ft. It’s a great defense mechanism.  

CLUCKY: Wow! I wonder if they can do rapid fire! 

Everyone: Clucky! 

CLUCKY: Well as far as a weapon its a pretty good one.  How did you get away from them?

PERRY: I started running and dodging away from them.  I got so scared they were going to hit me with one of their green globs, but I saw a section of the fence where the top board was down and I headed for it.  I was not sure I could do it but as I got close I took a flying leap and luckily I cleared the fence!  Then I just kept running.  

BELLA: We can certainly understand why you ran away.  

BRIGITA:  That is positively dreadful!

KITTEN: Why do you think the farmer would put you in with such mean animals?

PERRY: I don’t think he knew they would be so mean to me.  The farmer is very nice. He just gets a bit busy taking care of all his other animals and does not have time to spend with me.  The l-lamas are usually in the pastures with the sheep.  They are the protectors of the sheep.  

BRIDGET:  Why do sheep need protecting?

CLUCKY: How do the llamas protect the sheep?

PERRY:  Sheep are not very aware of their surroundings.  They are mainly focused on eating grass all day. They barely look up, I’ve tried to talk to a few of them before and they pretty much ignored me. They also don’t have any way to defend themselves besides running away and they are not particularly fast.  The l-lamas have very large ears and can hear much better than the sheep. They are much larger and do have a lot more ways of defending themselves and the sheep.   If they sense danger they will herd the sheep up to the barn and if a predator does come by, the l-lamas, will spit, bite and kick it in defense of themselves and the herd.  

BRIDGET: So I guess they are not all bad.  But they could certainly use some manners.  Do you think they are that mean to the sheep?

PERRY: I don’t think the sheep pay much attention to them.  When I have seen them in the field from my pasture they are usually interacting with the other l-lamas.  They don’t  seem to pay much attention to the sheep unless they need to make them move up to the barn.  Then they will sometimes charge at them to frighten them to get moving.  

FERAL: I wonder why they chose to pick on you so much. 

PERRY: Maybe its the only way they know how to interact.  When I see them together in the field they are usually grazing, however, if they are interacting with each other, they are usually rather aggressive towards each other.  They use their long necks to hit each other and will sometimes spit, bite and kick one another.  Now that I think about it, maybe they were trying to include me in their group.  

FERAL: That is certainly a brutish way to make friends.  They made you feel so bad that you ran off.  What will you do now?  Will you strike out on your own?  Discover more of this wild country that we live in?

PERRY: I hope not.  Now that I have had a moment to calm down and think maybe it wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be. 

BRIGITA:  What?! You are not thinking of going back to the farm and those bully llamas are you? 

CLUCKY: I’m sure you could stay here for a bit.  My human, Xander, should be down very soon and when he discovers you, I’m sure he will get you some help.  The Mom & Dad people will surely know how to help.  I am all for standing up to bullies and not running away from problems but maybe you want a little extra help. 

PERRY: Do you really think that this Xander person could help? 

FERAL: I don’t know if you should all be so trusting of your humans.  The last time I trusted a human I got stuck with this infernal collar. (sfx beeping) Zut!  Does it detect when I am speaking about it?  

KITTEN: I doubt it, you have been gone for quite a while. I think it is just a coincidence. You should probably head back home.  

FERAL: But I want to find out what happens with Perry.  I can help. I have been on an adventure like zis before!

CLUCKY: Don’t worry Feral, I think I hear Xander on his way down.  We will get Perry sorted and let you know what happens.  

BRIGITA:  What if you come back tomorrow? You can see Kitten again. 

FERAL: I would never miss an opportunity to cast my eyes on the fair Kitten. 

CLUCKY: What about me?  Club KFC remember! I am the C!  

FERAL: I am still trying to remember where I have heard KFC before….(sfx beeping) Zut encore!! I must return to ze barn. 

SFX Xander Walking

XANDER: Hey Chickens, where are you?  Want some worms?

CLUCKY: Bawk! Worms?! (sfx flapping) Over here! I want some! 

XANDER: There you are! Whoa! Who is this?  

PERRY: Hee Haw

XANDER: Did you all find a new friend? 

(various animal noises) 

XANDER: Hi Buddy, are you friendly?

PERRY: Hee Haw

XANDER: Can I pet you?  Oh good boy!  Well I better go get Mom.  She will want to meet you.  Stay here ok?  I’ll be back down in just a little bit.  Clucky, you’re in charge till I get back.

CLUCKY: Brauk Brauk! 

(Music Transition) 

FERAL: Bonjour my poulet friends! Comment ca va? Are you awake?

CLUCKY: Oh hey Feral! Bonjur to you too!

FERAL: And where is my beautiful Kitten?

BELLA: Hi Feral

BRIGITA: Cheerio Feral, so nice to see you! Its always so brillant how you always compliment Kitten when you talk about her.   

BRIDGET:  Oh Feral, your back, I’m sure Kitten will be so excited. 

CLUCKY: She should be down here soon. She usually comes down pretty early. I think I hear her padding down now.

KITTEN: Oh Feral! You’re here. So early. What brings you by?

BRIGITA:  Kitten don’t you remember I invited him to come by today to hear what happened to Perry.

KITTEN: Hrm, yes, well I didn’t realize it would be at the beginning of the day. 

FERAL: I could not wait any longer. I have been up at day break but I was trying to show some restraint and not come too soon. So, what happened with Perry? 

KITTEN: Well, the owners were actually out looking for Perry and the mom person got in touch with them. They came up and told the mom person that they had found Perry a new home. A friend of their family actually has a donkey rescue! 

FERAL: A donkey rescue? Ow many donkeys need rescuing to have a whole facility dedicated to donkeys?

KITTEN: I don’t think it’s that common. It’s probably a  sanctuary for other retired  farm animals as well,  place for them to relax and  live out their lives. It turns out that they were specifically looking for a miniature donkey to keep company with their existing miniature female named Jasmine. I think they’re hoping they may make a love match.

FERAL: Ah, amour, that is such wonderful news! So inspirational no? Think about it Kitten, you and I could go on our own love adventure and visit them at this sanctuary and talk about how wonderful love is? 

KITTEN: Oh Feral, it’s kind of far and you’ve got that collar keeping you local. Perhaps not.

CLUCK: That is great news for Perry though! A girlfriend to keep him company. He’ll love that!

KITTEN: That’s not all, they have other horses in the same field and stable that will keep them company as well.

BELLA: That sounds lovely!

BRIDGET: That’s great news for Perry!

CLUCKY: I think it’s perfect for Perry! Anything sounds better than those nasty L-lamas!

KITTEN: Are you starting to do the double Ls now too Clucky?

CLUCKY: It’s catchy!

FERAL: I still think life in the open being carefree is still appealing, but how can he turn down such a great opportunity to find a partner in love?

BRIGITA: Love does make the world go around

KITTEN: Brigita….

CLUCKY: It certainly does. I L-love our family. I L-love our friends. It certainly makes me go round and round.

KITTEN: Oh Clucky! Speaking of going around, what are our plans for the day?

FERAL: Oh Kitten…. We have ze whole day togezzer?

KITTEN: Uhm, the whole day? Oh…..

CLUCKY: Oh Boy a Club KFC adventure!  

BELLA:  What about us?  

CLUCKY: Well of course you can come too!  KFC, and a bunch of hens, it’s perfect!

Reference facts: 

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+good+are+chickens+hearing&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS977US977&oq=how+good+are+chicken%27s+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgDEAAYDRiABDIGCAAQRRg5MgkIARAAGA0YgAQyCQgCEAAYDRiABDIJCAMQABgNGIAEMgkIBBAAGA0YgAQyCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMggICRAAGBYYHtIBCDc5NzJqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/100712-cats-mimics-monkeys-prey-science

https://www.marylandzoo.org/animal/miniature-donkey/#:~:text=Miniature%20donkeys%20can%20serve%20as,gentle%2C%20intelligent%2C%20and%20sociable.

https://www.quartermoonranch.com/carolynsarticlesandstories/facts.html

https://www.treehugger.com/things-you-didnt-know-about-llamas-4863830

https://www.thoughtco.com/fun-facts-about-llamas-3880940

https://www.deseret.com/1998/8/16/19396324/english-borrowed-llama-but-altered-pronunciation/#:~:text=Published:%20Aug%2016%2C%201998%2C,Spanish%20but%20altered%20the%20pronunciation.

https://alpacalyeverafter.co.uk/blog/toenails-or-hooves/