In the
middle of the day they frequently roll in the dust, in
saucer-shaped hollows. The males fight together; two one day passed
quite close to me, squealing and trying to bite each other; and
several were shot with their hides deeply scored. Herds sometimes
appear to set out on exploring parties: at Bahia Blanca, where,
within thirty miles of the coast, these animals are extremely
unfrequent, I one day saw the tracks of thirty or forty, which had
come in a direct line to a muddy salt-water creek. They then must
have perceived that they were approaching the sea, for they had
wheeled with the regularity of cavalry, and had returned back in as
straight a line as they had advanced. The guanacos have one
singular habit, which is to me quite inexplicable; namely, that on
successive days they drop their dung in the same defined heap. I
saw one of these heaps which was eight feet in diameter, and was
composed of a large quantity. This habit, according to M. A.
d'Orbigny, is common to all the species of the genus; it is very
useful to the Peruvian Indians, who use the dung for fuel, and are
thus saved the trouble of collecting it.
The guanacos appear to have favourite spots for lying down to die.
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