The Rescuers : Part Two

Lillian Beck at Kent Rock Meadows

　

This past year has been quite an experience for Dave and myself. We were involved with five other farms in the rescue of ten llamas,
and it has turned out to be quite an adventure for everyone who became involved. Every farm had their share of surprises some
bigger than others; ranging from happy days to shock and dismay. Our two llamas were females, a mother daughter team.
The mother, Paloma Picasso and her daughter Paloma's Isabella kept us busy through the summer They came to live with us on June 6, 1999.

A couple of days into their arrival I noticed that Paloma's nipples seemed very large and swollen; yes, just as if she had been nursing a cria.
This seemed to be pretty impossible since her last cria was over a year old. A few phone calls later verified the fact that yes, on June 5th
she was still nursing her last cria. Paloma had already given birth to four crias, and that explained a lot. Why she was so small and why
she was so ill now. She was near death when she arrived . Now she also had to have her body adjust to drying out. In my last article it
tells all the problems she had and her care and treatment. Refer to the Llama Journal Fall of 1999.

When Paloma and Isabella arrived, we washed the two ladies and gave them a body clipping . They slowly began adjusting to life on our
ranch and both were having a steady weight gain. I had planned to begin grooming both of them so that they would feel better and look
better. But, when I placed Isabella in the chute and began brushing her, a funny thing happened. She looked pregnant.

A couple of weeks later she was still larger and I mentioned this to Dave. He also had begun wondering about it. This resulted in another
round of phone calls, mainly because Isabella was not supposed to have been in with any males HAI HA! Well, she had been in with a
young male who was apparently able to breed. The owners had thought that he was to young to be a threat. He was almost two years old.
Now, the next question. When did all these lovely females get bred? " I don't know ." was the answer.

At the same time several other farms were calling about their females. An even worse problem. Some of these females that he bred were
his sisters. Truth is stranger than fiction, you can't make this stuff up. It just seems to arrive and hit you in the face. What had all of us
gotten into ? After more research I discovered OUR bundle from heaven was going to be OK! No one was related. 

Now, next question when was the baby coming ? This was a question which Dave, and several other people would
ask me on a regular basis. From just looking at Isabella and trying to compare her to others, My GUESS was some time in the winter,
anywhere from the last week in December to the first week in February. Or a better GUESS was every morning that we woke up, because
she looked like she was going to explode everyday.

Then January 11, 2000, right after we woke up, the cria arrived. The cria was a very strong long legged correct male . He weighed in at
26 pounds and began nursing in about two hours. Were we lucky! The day he was born was a beautiful warm day and it continued like
this for over a week and then all of Georgia went into a combination of freezing rain with ice all over the ground and low temperatures and
trees breaking because of the heavy ice on them. Dave woke up at about three that morning because the electricity had gone off and the
house had become cold, and he could also hear the trees cracking and breaking. He decided to go and check on the animals, which was a
good thing. By the time he arrived at the baby building that Isabella and the cria were in, a large tree above it was beginning to break. He
was just able to move Isabella and the baby to another building when the tree broke and crashed on top of the room that they had been in.

We all survived the deep freeze and Isabella's cria grew like a weed. His grandmother, Paloma Picasso also began putting on weight and feeling
like a real llama again. Her fiber began growing and was no longer as coarse. The wound on her nose was all healed and she began looking
so good we decided to give her an opportunity to go out and show the public what a llama who should be dead could do if someone would just
rescue them.

We took her to the March ALSA show in Perry, Ga. and she won herself a ribbon and her own place in history. There are a lot more Palomas
out there, and now several groups have formed to try and correct this situation.

In our area of the Southern States Llama Association, a group consisting of Lance Hardcastle, Alvin Bean, Susan Gawarecki, and several
other people, is beginning their work and contributing their time and efforts to saving all of the forgotten llamas. Some of us were able to
hear Susan give an excellent speech on the llama rescue need at the Southern States Llama Association conference on March 25,2000.

Please support the rescue teams that are in your areas. They can use money, supplies, transportation, and temporary homes.

Paloma is an example for everyone. If you feed me, wash me, groom me, and heal my wounds, and give me tons of love I WILL SURVIVE, and
make you the most wonderful llama in the world