Kids masks at the fair: Pick a cute critter to add to your fair-going outfit

If you're enjoying yummy ice cream, All-You-Can-Drink Milk, cheese curds, a malt or butter sculpting at the fair, you have me to thank for it. I produce 6 or 7 gallons of milk daily, so I need to drink plenty of water — 30 to 50 gallons per day, or enough to fill a bathtub. You might have heard about my four stomachs; that's kind of true because my stomach has four compartments to help me digest the feed I like to eat. Come and watch me giving milk at the Moo Booth!

I was an American harness-racing horse, some say the fastest that ever lived. I was born in Oxford, Ind., and though I nearly died as a yearling, Marion Savage (ever heard of that suburb?) paid $60,000 for me in 1902. On Sept. 8, 1906, a huge crowd at the Minnesota State Fair watched as I ran what would turn out to be the world's fastest mile by a two-wheel sulky, a record of 1:55 that was later matched but never broken. I was so famous, I pitched products and appeared in political cartoons. After a career traveling the nation in my own train car, I retired to the green pastures of Savage Racing Stables.

I'm not as famous as the fair's mascots, Fairchild and his nephew Fairborne, or the University of Minnesota's Goldy, but I aspire to such greatness. Still, even your average gopher is a pretty interesting creature: I have pockets in my cheeks to carry food, and powerful legs and claws for digging. My sharp incisors never stop growing, so I never stop chewing. These skills come in handy for making tunnels and my cozy underground den.

I come from the Andes Mountains in South America. I'm a member of the camelid family, which includes camels and alpacas. I'm extremely sociable and communicate by humming and, yes, spitting — I can spit 15 feet or more, so beware. You can see me at my finest (and silliest) at the State Fair 4-H Llama-Alpaca Costume Contest. I'm very smart and a little vain because of my beautiful and useful hair and luscious eyelashes. I'm also very strong. I can carry as much as 200 pounds for 12 hours a day.

I'm the smartest animal on the farm and I have great senses of smell and direction (though I can't see very well). My reputation for filthiness is not quite fair. I just like to roll in the mud to stay cool! When I was born — you can see lots of cute piglets at the Miracle of Birth Center — I weighed about 2 ½ pounds, and I managed to double in weight in only a week. You can see lots of kinds of pigs at the fair, with names like Berkshire, Duroc, Hampshire and Yorkshire, and don't miss a visit to see the largest boar at the fair. He usually weighs 1,300 pounds or more.