Lost Creek Misty
ILR # 255572
nonbreeder female b. 7-10-2003 d. 09.12.2019
Andrew Jackson x Rocky Mountain Greymist
Misty weighed in at 28 pounds and was a welcome sight to all ... after a then-farm-record 368-day gestation! She passed away at 16 years after a short but rapid decline from a presumed lymphoma.
When she was very young, Misty looked dull white from a short distance, but a closer inspection revealed subtle hues of silver and salmon pink, as well as a few more obvious appaloosa spots. She lost all those elusive colors as she matured.
Misty 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 placed a significant setback in their relationship, and the llama-within-the-llama came out ... Misty is quite capable of expecting the worst and making pre-emptive strikes! Years later, Misty continued to be resentful of 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 discomfort when wearing a halter. After one failed placement attempt, we began to suspect that Misty had some visual impairment on that side as well.
When Misty was comfortable and confident, she was endlessly affectionate and fun to be with. But when Misty felt threatened (as she often did initially), she could be very defensive (an attitude inherited from her sire's side) and difficult to handle if the human interpreted Misty's fear as a threat or insult instead, because Misty wouldl escalate her behavior until she was sure the human WAS listening to her ... a sure-fire recipe for sloppy green disaster with most people (which is why she wasa nonbreeder — llamas who need to know they'll be heard and respected rarely find humans who listen).
When our friend Anne's 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!
We knew “Misty” was a name that fit well from the early hour of the morning she arrived, and we figured we’d come up with a longer registered name ending in “mist” (to honor mother Greymist) that would also honor father Andrew. Nothing seemed to agree with Misty, and finally she fessed up that she didn’t want a longer name because then people would call her something else and she wants to be called “Misty” because she likes that. After years of having to listen to a lot of people — who should know better — verbally butcher even our most well-known llamas’ names, we figured that’s a fine reason to leave it just as she wanted (besides, it is HER name, and it should be agreeable to her).