The animal in question is a 2 year old stud (sometimes referred to as an uncut or intact male). Recently our focus has been almost entirely on Bella, who suffered a serious leg injury and is recovering from major surgical repairs. Bella is the epitome of the calm and easy going camelid and over the last few weeks has lulled us into a false sense of security with regard to llama handling.
We were shocked back into reality when dear, fluffy little Cuzco turned into a large, boisterous stud, apparently overnight! Whilst tending to Bella in one of the Llama houses a great ruckus started outside and on dashing outside found Cuzco reared to a height of 8 or 9 feet. The gate yielded to his power as he came down onto it a few times and he charged into the adjoining paddock to accost two other males – Tom Burke, the head of the herd and a sire called Hagar.
Until very recently he had happily shared the paddock with Tom Burke and was moved out into his field of his own before his games for dominance became serious.
Lesson number one: The rules for keeping more than one stud are clear for all to read – keep the intact males separated by at least two fences. It’s just a shame that we don’t always obey the rules!
When two male llamas are fighting…and I mean REALLY fighting, it’s best not to get between them. Luckily for us Hagar isn’t a wild woolly heap of testosterone laden muscle like Cuzco, he’s actually badly crippled, which has made him more of a tactician than a fighter. He has learned to avoid the thrusts and charges and chooses the right moment to bite the foreleg of his opponent, bringing him to his knees.
Just like humans, the surge of male hormone makes the animal want to be chief, which means he has to beat the current title holder into submission. Tom Burke is about as big as a llama gets – at least 450lbs and well over 6 feet tall and despite being a peace-keeper, he still knows how to move.After 10 horrible minutes of watching this male mayhem, Cuzco finally quit and dropped to his knees in the dust bath, mouth agape, drooling, spit-covered and panting.
Lesson number two: Don’t try this at home folks as I can vouch for the fact that this technique doesn’t work on a 2 year old male in a tizzy. In my madness to get a rope and halter onto the young lad, I dived across the back of his neck whilst he was cushed, believing that this would immobilize him….. well, it’s worked in the past! I was just turning to slip the rope around his neck when he launched himself onto his feet and sent me into orbit.
Brushing the dust off my bruised ego and kissing my battered knees better, adrenaline subsided, sanity returned and the tried and trusted method for catching an animal that doesn’t want to be caught slipped back into my thought processes.
How to catch a Llama (presuming a chute and catch-pen isn’t an option) – Tie a long length of brightly coloured rope (ours is about 80 feet long) to a post at or close to a suitable corner of the paddock.
The rope should be tied about waist height and one person should hold the free end loosely and stand about 45 degrees to the corner. Another person then calmly directs the hapless camelid into the corner using a couple of long wands (6 foot willow branches work well). As the animal nears the corner or tries to cross the rope, it’s pulled taught , which usually steers the animal back to the fence. Both people slowly move into the corner, making all the right reassuring noises…..la la la la Slipping the lead rope around the neck and fitting the halter is a doddle once you get this far.... sometimes!
Getting the lead rope onto a llama will have to be the subject of another post, as will fitting the halter correctly to prevent serious injury or even death!
Lesson number three: Short and sweet, but really sound advice – if you don’t have need for a stud, then castration can save a huge amount of hassle and sore knees for you and save a lot of trauma for the whole herd.
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