A pair of llamas on the loose in Sun City, Ariz., riveted the nation this afternoon.
The major cable news networks — CNN, Fox, MSNBC — broke into their news coverage for chopper footage showing a black llama and a white llama running through parking lots and boulevards while being chased by a bunch of guys:
Just gonna keep making llama Vines all day. https://t.co/2a9NtKjbrm
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) February 26, 2015
Eventually, more men with lassos joined the chase:
If you somehow missed this in the past 15 min, all your high-speed llama chase updates HERE: http://t.co/YuRiQEvdDd pic.twitter.com/ebMSLFr0vi
— Mashable (@mashable) February 26, 2015
And the black llama was cornered and, much to the dismay of Twitter, was captured:
But the white llama was still holding on to the dream:
The llama escaped a few lasso attempts from men on foot. But then, they brought in the pickup truck and the "Great Llama Drama of 2015" came to an end:
Was it alpaca-ing heat? RT @ellenhuet: America: lassos and gifshttp://t.co/jtr29FaJk2
— Alex Howard (@digiphile) February 26, 2015
(h/t @ow's v impressive live giffing)
And everybody thought:
They were so close to living the dream like this llama https://t.co/eARXwiUjLZ
— Roberto Baldwin (@strngwys) February 26, 2015
(By the way: Per The Associated Press, this all happened in Maricopa County. There's no word on whether these llamas were pets.)
Update at 6:27 p.m. ET. Therapy Llamas:
The AP reports that the escaped llamas were working at a retirement home. The wire service adds:
"The fugitive llamas were part of a trio that were making a therapy visit to elderly residents at GenCare SunCity at The Carillons. Executive Director Jill Parsons said it was the first time the facility had hosted the llamas.
"The animals bolted when their handlers took them outside for a bathroom break.
"Parsons declined to name the llamas' owners, saying that they were somewhat embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Their televised breakout quickly inspired a Twitter account and several hashtags."
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