A llama, apparently a very territorial one, caused a stir Friday by charging a kindergartner as the student tried to step off a school bus in Limestone County.

The llama also charged the child’s mother and the bus driver when they attempted to intercede.

The incident occurred around noon on a cul-de-sac named Bill Walker Road, near Bain Road, northeast of Athens. Students had been dismissed early for Christmas break. The kindergartner at Piney Chapel Elementary School was being let off at her home.

“The driver, Teresa Davis, was trying to let the kid off the bus and every time the student tired to get off, the llama would charge the student,” said Limestone County Schools Transportation Director Rusty Bates.

“The momma came out to help, and the llama charged her. So, the momma went back inside and the student got back on the bus. When the student tried again, the llama charged again. When the driver tried, it charged her. The llama charged everybody it saw.”

The Limestone County Sheriff’s Office was called to assist.

When Animal Control Officer Joe Moss arrived, the bus was already gone and the llama had chilled.

“It came up to me, and I rubbed it on the neck,” Moss said. “I told it go back through the fence (in its yard) and it went just like it knew what I was talking about. It was fine. I petted it. I guess it just doesn’t like school buses.”

In the history of his job as overseer of busing, Bates said he has never before encountered a surly llama.

“We did have a billy goat charge some students once and we had to go out and deal with that,” he said. “A llama is a first for me.”

Llamas have their reasons

Neither Bates nor Moss knew the sex of the llama but both had heard some llamas can be ornery — charging, spitting and nipping at times.

According to the Buckhorn Llama Co. website, llamas — particularly males — have an “exaggerated territoriality” compared to other species.

“They react with nonchalance, caution, fight or flight as dictated by circumstances,” according to an article about llama behavior on the company’s website. “Individual temperaments range from laid back to high-strung, and the spectrum of individual temperaments contributes to herd responses.”