A slightly grumpy Manuel.

In the book I explain that although the alpacas do spit, it is usually at each other, and if you get hit, it is because you were caught in the crossfire. Well recently my son experienced a rare exception to this…
When feeding the alpacas in the morning, Manuel gets the first tasting of horse muesli from the bucket, before it is spread for the rest (because he is always thin). When my elder son, Kieran, was looking after the menagerie for the weekend recently, he offered the bucket to Manuel for his first bite, not realising that Manuel is allowed more than that, and then took it away to spread it for the others. Manuel didn’t like this, and tried to stick his head back in the bucket as it was being tipped, getting covered in horse muesli in the process. Manuel objected strongly to this and immediately spat at Kieran, who attempted (and largely failed) to duck out of the way of the spray of horse muesli, and in doing so, stepped behind Nina, who doesn’t like alpacas or people behind her, and kicked out, hitting Kieran in the legs. Kieran was not impressed. And obviously Manuel and Nina weren’t too impressed either.