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The Newsletter of Southeast Llama Rescue, Inc. Volume 2, Issue 3 June 1, 2008 SELR Mission Statement: To protect the quality of life and improve the well-being of abused, neglected, unwanted, and behaviorally unmanageable llamas through prevention, education, intervention, placement, and lifelong care. Left : SELR Llamas living at the Circle Ranch in West Texas. Photo taken in April when SELR volunteers visited the ranch to perform health evaluations of the llamas. For a full report, read “Meanwhile, We’ve Been to the Ranch,” on pages 2 & 3. Volunteer Highlights—By Shirley Engelhardt, SC Adoption Coordinator We continue our story on SELR’s board in the llama and have proven themselves to be members, with this profile of Chris Adams, good candidates, Chris gives them the animal. Lynette Melton and Nancy Sottosanti. Wow. What a wonderful program. Chris Adams Below are some of Chris’ 4-H kids after a After a Girl Scout trip with her daughter in county fair show. 2002, Chris became a new llama owner. Chris and her daughter were smitten. Today, Chris’ farm is home to 20 llamas, most of which are rescues. She and her family, particularly her teenage daughter, try to rehabilitate and train the llamas to be future 4H animals. Following the lead of a Northern Ohio 4H club, they started a program to "lease a llama." Local 4H kids get the opportunity to (Continued on Page 4) try a llama for a year without the commitment of owning the animal. The kids go to Chris’ farm In this Issue and learn how to take care of their "leased Meanwhile, We’ve Been to the Ranch 2 llama." They work off their "lease" with farm The Origin of Unicorns 3 chores (no money, just hard work) and have to show Chris that they can do all the things Haltering the Untouched Llama 5 needed to be a llama owner. At the end of the Successful Shearing 6 lease period, if they have shown a true interest What My Rescue Llamas Mean to Me 7 1 The Llama Rescue Review Board of Advisors Meanwhile, We’ve Been to the Ranch! Lynette Melton Deb Logan By Lynette Melton , SELR BoD, Chair Nancy Sottosanti Melissa Perryman Last year, 12 ABS llamas in SELR's pronghorn antelopes and elk, as well Chris Adams care found a new lease on life in west as some mountain bighorn sheep. George Brandon Texas. The grazing operation is primarily Helen Carpenter aimed at finishing cattle before they These llamas are all high level ABS Pat Cothran head to market. Circle Ranch doesn't Susan Gawarecki (Aberrant Behavior Syndrome), and breed them, they are paid per head to Chris Stull despite training (years for some of let them graze 200+ days, then Julie Wier them), they continue to be aggressive they're sent to market by their Ricky Zachow to humans. There are very few foster owners. SELR Founders homes who can handle aggressive Alvin Bean llamas, and since these llamas would The cattle eat the grass and the Lance Hardcastle likely never be adoptable and are browsers eat the other vegetation. Mailing Address and Contributions: potentially dangerous to their human Some of the plants will smother SELR caretakers, the ranch seemed a better themselves out if not grazed, so those 678 Mill Creek Rd alternative for them. hungry mouths actually promote Luray VA 22835 healthy plants. It is a rather amazing ABS llamas are agitated by E-mail : operation, and according to Chris interactions with humans and often llamaquestions@southeastllama they have consistently exhibited far develop stress related health rescue.org more productivity than other desert Website : problems, such as ulcers. The ranches using conventional methods. www.southeastllamarescue.org expectation was that living in a larger Holistic grazing just may be the area with minimal daily human Newsletter Editor pasture management wave of the interaction would be beneficial to Melissa Perryman future! these llamas. The 12 geldings selected were evaluated, with vet Chris has llamas on Circle Ranch Supporters input, to ensure they were in good mainly just because he likes to look health and likely to do well at the at them. The antelopes do basically Donors Julie Wier— Powatan ranch. the same grazing job, but he loves to Joan Rettenberger Leigh Aiken—Ricky see the llamas in the prairies, deserts, SSLA Hobo Show Kim Ledum—Scorpio Sun Trust Bank Susan Gibson— canyons, and on the mountains. Allen Cannedy Snow & Sprite SELR volunteers were invited to visit Chrystal Chaddock Cynthia Shaffer— Circle Ranch to see where the llamas Starr Cash & Belle & Cria Jaworski Cathleen Robinson— are living, health check the llamas, Linda LaBarge Cleo and shear any that needed it. Five of 4-H Llama Lleaders, Transporters us took Chris up on the invitation and Mason, IL Bill & Carolyn Blalock went to the ranch in mid-April. Deb Ann & Henry Helen & Lyle Chris Gill's Circle Ranch is a 32,000 Logan, Tracy Snell, Susan Coley, my DelVecchio Carpenter acre holistic grazing operation high hubby Kim, and I spent a couple of Ellis family Paul Celluci in the Sierra Blanca mountains. days touring the ranch and checking Jo-Ann Close & Pat & George Cothran Holistic grazing is the idea that by on the llamas. Austin Morrissey Randall Gooding hosting a number of different species Ohio U Vet School Claudia Hammack There were two other small herds of with different nutritional and grazing Melissa Hamilton, The Hughes llamas on the ranch before we sent requirements helps the land stay as DVM Deb Logan our 12. The herds are kept in separate Tracy Snell Tony & CozetteO’Neil productive as possible. Their feet sections of 640 to 2000 acres each. Knox Dayton Bobby Smith break up the dry, sandy dirt to allow We saw one herd (the second herd, I Stacy Mashburn Elizabeth Strub what little rainfall is received to think) from a distance, proudly Adopters Rebecca Wood better penetrate. The urine and feces walking along a mountain ridge. of the various animals promote this Thanks to everyone who makes a What a lovely sight! as well. There are a number of positive difference in the lives of (Continued on Page 3) SELR lamas! 2 The Llama Rescue Review Meanwhile, We’ve Been to the Ranch . Continued from Page 2 The original herd was gathered at a cistern, enjoying the get back to their browsing when we were done! water and sunning. We walked amongst them and We were very pleased to see that all the 12 appeared to checked them over. All appeared to be in great shape. be quite healthy. All the health data was recorded and The SELR 12 will be kept for comparison purposes in years to come. were spotted As the climate is very arid and the temps barely reach and called in the 90s in the two hot months of the year, and the to a corral winters are reported to be quite cold, we determined with feed that none needed shorn this year. Susan, who lives buckets, barely a day away, has agreed to continue to check on where we the llamas and see that any who need it are shorn next body scored, spring. did famacha I am so glad that we have found a place where these toenail, and ABS guys no longer have to endure the stress inducing teeth checks, circumstances of constant interactions with humans and and evaluated can just be llamas. To view more photos of the llamas them for shearing. Those guys were just as feisty and at Circle Ranch, please visit http://public.fotki.com/ obnoxious as ever with humans, and were very glad to SELR/ The Origin of Unicorns By Gary Kaufman, Roads End Llamas, www.roadsendllamas.com Once upon a time, long, long ago, "No matter where we go," the male And now, hundreds of years later, the last pair of unicorns on earth unicorn said, "People will know us when you go out into the fields, you realized the only way they could for who we are by our wonderful will see their children, now called survive would be to disguise horn. What are we to do?" llamas, still chewing on the magic themselves and their magic from the "You will have to remove your of the horns their great-great-great world. grandparents passed on to them horns, it's the only way," said the after all these years. They ran away into the deep high child in all honesty. "It may hurt, mountains of South America. There but I can't think of any other way." This article was first published in the LANA they met a family who cherished journal. Copyright Tuesday, February 12, The unicorns agreed, the male bit 2008 Gary Kaufman, Roads End Llamas them for what they were and off his partner's horn, and she bit off Olympia WA. Permission is granted for recognized how special they were. his. They stomped the horns into nonprofit educational duplication and They were allowed to roam the small pieces and each ate the other’s distribution. This permission is in addition to rights granted under Sections 107, 108 mountains freely, without horn so there would be no trace and interference. and other provisions of the U.S. Copyright the magic would be preserved. Act. One day the youngest child saw And from that day on every time the strangers on horse-back riding up little girl would go up into the high the trail that led to the high mountain valleys she would call out mountain valley where the two to them with her very special name.