Llamas at Lost Creek Annex!
Lost Creek Misty
ILR # 255572
nonbreeder female b. 7-10-2003
Andrew Jackson x Rocky Mountain Greymist
Lost Creek Kahlotus
ILR # 274897
female b. 12-27-2007
Sky Rocket x Megan Summer Socks
Anne has been our friend since 1979 and may as well be family, and so of course her llamas are family, too. Anne did our farm sitting for many years until increasing travel for her job made that essentially impossible; Anne also boarded her first llama, Masked Bandit, with us until his death at age 21.
Anne took a great deal of time to prepare for having llamas on her own property (unlike so many people who jump first and regret much ... both soon and long afterwards) ... even though she knew right away that she just had to call her acreage "Lost Creek Annex" (Anne is an incurable punster). Anne also (being wise) asked us to set her up with two or three llamas on a trial basis so she could be sure she and the llamas were all compatible with each other and the situation.
Lost Creek Annex was set up (with extensive consultation from us) to provide exceptionally flexible accomodations and grazing for a small group of llamas despite potentially very different individual needs. For instance, each llama has her own private stall for the daily supplemental feeding times (so nobody has to be tied up to eat, yet each gets her own portions according to her requirements). Anne has a special commitment to allow individual personalities to "be themselves" in the many ways that promote mental and emotional health for each llama. Really, we are envious!
Best of all, we get to visit special llama friends whenever we visit Anne, who lives a short three miles away from us!
Kahlotus, bred by us, is one of those "close but not quite good enough" females that should not be making more llamas — her coat is too dense to shed well, and her size, although probably not hereditary, would definitely place environmental limits on the size of any offspring. Solely because of her small size, Kahlotus's own career options as a packer were limited — less by her size per se (she can handle average recreational packing just fine), and more by humans' perceptions of what that means (simplistic-minded shoppers love "big"). Obviously those perceptual limitations would apply to theoretical offspring as well, so we wanted to be sure "offspring" remained strictly theoretical ... however, spaying still wouldn't solve Kahlotus's own problems trying to beat that prejudice.
Anne has no unfounded hangups about Kahlotus's small size, so Kahlotus can look forward to a lifetime of walks, dayhikes, and just plain fun ... as well as being fully appreciated! As a younger llama, Kahlotus will give Anne many, many years of both enjoyment and assistance with compromised and retiree llamas who may join the herd at Lost Creek Annex in the future.
Misty, also bred by us, started out as one of Jim’s primary partners, and was becoming well-known as she accompanied him to more venues for demonstrations of Get Connected! llama training ... until a very long treatment for a stubborn face abscess of unknown origin put a stop to that. Even years later, Misty has continued to be upset over being haltered, and we suspect that the incisions necessary to drain the abcess (not knowing what it was at the time and fearing for her eye) may have left Misty with permanent nerve damage on her face, creating significant discomfort when wearing a halter. After a failed placement attempt, we now believe Misty has visual and/or auditory impairment on that side as well.
When Misty is comfortable and confident, she is endlessly affectionate and fun to be with. But when Misty feels threatened (as she often does initially), she can be very defensive (an attitude inherited from her sire's side) and difficult to handle if the human interprets Misty's fear as a threat or insult instead, because Misty will escalate her behavior until she is sure the human IS listening to her ... a sure-fire recipe for sloppy green disaster with most people today (which is why she's a nonbreeder — llamas who need to know they'll be heard and respected rarely find humans who listen).
When Anne's last rescue llama Miaka passed on, we agreed to place Misty at Lost Creek Annex on trial, warning Anne about all of Misty's warts, of course. It turned out that Misty found her dream home with Anne, and Anne thought Misty was her dream llama!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ gone, but not forgotten ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lacy's Princessa
ILR # 91094
female b. 7-31-1991 ... d. 1-20-2012
Verdad x Lacy Kay Dalton
After Princessa lost her good eye to an infection (the other had a scar from the massive corneal abrasion she had when we rescued her; the scar blocked about 25% of that eye's vision), we struggled to find a place for her to fit in. She was much too vulnerable in the larger female herd, and even prone to getting "greened" for inadvertant blind transgressions in the smaller maternity/retirement female herd. Worse still, Princessa was still super-active and drove the maternity/retirement females crazy. Still, we really hated the thought of allowing Princessa out of our care ... as well as losing out on her amusing side. Lost Creek Annex was the only place we were comfortable sending Princessa, and it worked out perfectly. At Anne's, Princessa's energy and antics were much appreciated, and she only had two other llamas to keep track of. Although her limited eyesight made walking and hiking with her a very different experience than with a fully-sighted llama, Anne reported that she and Princessa definitely enjoyed their outings together. Even though we missed seeing Princessa's creativity on a daily basis, we did have the next best thing — we could stop at Anne's to get a "Princessa fix" anytime we want.
In January of 2012, Princessa experienced a sudden cascade of serious health issues, and when initial treatment proved no solutions would be forthcoming, she was humanely euthanised. We were all sorry to lose her. There was only one Princessa.
Miaka
ILR # 116077
female b. 7-8-1992
Happy Valleys Ajax x Happy Valleys Angel
Miaka came to us with Zorra, with the understanding that she was to be suitably rehomed. Unfortunately, Miaka sustained a deep ligament hip injury shortly after her arrival here. Initial introduction periods are always risky, and Miaka was not used to such a large herd (over time, we could see that it stressed her to be with so many other llamas, even though most other llamas think a herd of a dozen is just fine and a few think that's not big enough!). Regardless, we felt awful about it, and it was even more tragic because it reduced her placement possibilities to almost none. Although Miaka was permanently lame, she blossomed at Anne's and thought a herd of three was perfect for her. What was really great is that Anne was particularly fascinated by Miaka's perspective on the world — and so Miaka finally had someone who appreciated her as being very special, not just another llama.
OM Summer
ILR # 115747
female b. 8-1-1993
Jericoe x OM Willow Tree
Summer came to us with her best friend Dallys and Dallys's daughter Peanut. We had admired Summer since we first knew her and expected her to remain here forever, but after Dallys's unexpected death, Summer returned to her previous behaviors of segretating herself from the main herd and eating only the minimum amount necessary to survive; even Peanut (whom she'd known for the previous three years) was of no interest or comfort to her. As much as we liked Summer, we had to put her health and her mental wellbeing first ... and that meant admitting our place really wasn't suitable for her, especially as age would soon cause her metabolism to change and require even more food. Like Princessa, we were committed to Summer's care for life, and very much hated facing the truth that we could not provide her with what she needed. Also like Princessa, we were not comfortable trusting Summer's wellbeing to anyone except our friend Anne, who not only would never think of breeding Summer, but whose facilities allow Summer's weight to be monitored and feed adjusted before there's any chance of a problem being missed and snowballing. Lost Creek Annex also has much more grazing available (other llamas can hog hay, but not whole pastures!)
Coincidentally, Summer was also related to Anne's first gelding, Bandit. Almost eerily like Bandit, Summer was quite introverted, kept her own counsel and didn't commit to relationships quickly. It was a very good thing for Summer that she lived with Anne, because Anne understood her issues and accomodated them instead of (like so many people) being disgusted because Summer couldn't be someone she isn't and never would be. Summer got many more interesting outings with Anne than she ever would have gotten here, and was much loved for the rest of her life.