Llama's summer do

Here's Baxter Black, also known as BB, with his new summer time haircut. Llamas can take any kind and amount of cold weather but the heat can take them quickly. So when summer finally decided to stick around these parts, I decided it was haircut time. My neighbor and friend, Yvonne, volunteered to help.


I got these two boys the same way I've gotten all my critters. BB came first. The man hauling him to the auction yard, where the slaughter trucks were lined up, made a quick detour to our ranch. BB was a small boy, small boned and all black.

I didn't know a thing about llamas when he arrived. I soon found a woman named Barb, who is still my go-to for any questions. She introduced me to llama 101, what to feed, how to handle, when and how to shear, etc. Then she said, "You'll need to get a second llama." And, she added, he needs to be as small as BB. It seems a larger boy llama will pick on a smaller one. Then one day she called with an offer I couldn't refuse.



His name is Murphy and his mama was part a herd the sheriff confiscated because their owner wasn't feeding them. When one of the females arrived at the foster home, she dropped a baby. No one knew she was pregnant because she was so thin. She had no milk so the baby was bottle fed. Because of his difficult start Murphy never grew to usual llama size, which can be around 500 or more pounds.



They were easy to catch that day. I led them into the barn where Yvonne waited with scissors in hand. Murphy went into a stall and I clipped BB to the stall door. BB began humming and soon Murphy joined him. Llama's hum when they're nervous or upset. We set forth, making great headway when BB decided to couch. Llamas are cousins of camels, when they lay down they tuck their legs and feet underneath, they also have a split upper lip.

I knelt beside BB and continued clipping. Yvonne worked on his long neck. Suddenly BB lurched forward and upward. I rolled sideways in the soft, but very dusty barn floor and managed to miss his flying legs. Yvonne ducked backwards and we both escaped.

Then it was Murphy's turn. He seemed cooperative too, for a while. He hummed while we clipped. He went silent except for a raspy sound in his throat. Yvonne bent down to catch a long patch of hair between his front legs. And Murphy let loose. Llama spit can fly for several feet. Murphy's went over Yvonne, with just the mist falling on her back.

Llama spit is not only ugly, it's slimy and green and it stinks.




Both boys were greatly relieved to return to the pasture. Sienna, my mustang mare, was not at all sure these were the llamas she was used to. They smelled the same but they looked different.

Newcomers to the ranch

I've got two new horses on the ranch, both are sorrels. Rebel is a gelding, he's the closest one in the picture. Shasta is his mare. Both are in their 20s, and in good health. Rebel is having a difficult time keeping Shasta away from the fence because there's another gelding in the other pasture and she's a big flirt. The fact that Rebel flirts with Gypsy, the little white Arab mare in the background, doesn't count!

My pastures are dry this time of year and that's good for these two. These two came to the ranch a little bit overweight---a rare happening for me. Most of the critters who make it to my ranch need something, food, kindness, a little training and a routine.




Horses thrive on routine. I feed at the same time mornings and evenings. They come into the barn in a certain order and they go out in a certain order. During the summer I bring them in to eat dinner and then turn them back out to spend the night in their pastures. In this picture my BLM mustang mare, Sienna, is the first girl, with the white star. Bucky, a handsome gelding, is in the stall beside her.
Sometimes these two have arguments but because of the heavy wire separating them they can't hurt each other.




Other news from the ranch isn't so happy. I lost my precious Cleo kitty.Yes, she was old, got to see her 18th birthday before her kidney's failed completely. She'd been on the ranch a long time and I miss her. It's been a tough year for losses. Two dogs, three kitties. I've had enough!

We're haying! Yesterday the Big Field was mowed, and once again Smilie goat got to roam. The grass had been so tall she couldn't see over it. All three goats stayed close to home, they know what's coming next.








The Big Field is about 25 acres that spreads, east to west along the banks of Oregon's Willamette River. Last year I got 1,085 bales, each weighing from 55 to 75 pounds, with a few going to 90 pounds. This year's crop is going to be larger and that means more bales to store.

It's most likely we'll be baling next weekend. I have a crew of teenage boys ready and waiting. It's a long, hot and dusty, two and sometimes three days of work. They'll follow the baler, in a pickup towing a low-boy trailer. When they come to a bale they stack it on the trailer. When they have a load of about 100 bales, they hop on for a ride to the barn where they'll stack the bales to the rafters. I feed them well, keep them hydrated and pay them. Even with all the hard work it's fun and the same boys come back year after year.




Here's my problem. I only need about 800 bales to feed my horsies and I still have about 300 bales of last year's hay left in the barn!

It's grass hay, horse quality and I 'm selling it for what it cost me, $2.50 a bale.

Wish me luck!

Pet clinics

I work with a nonprofit organization called Pro-Bone-O. We offer twice monthly, free veterinary clinics for pets of people who are homeless. We're all volunteers. Our local veterinarians volunteer their Sunday mornings, and so do the Oregon State University veterinary students who travel 45 miles to act as technicians for our clinics. All our medications, equipment and the pet food we distribute are donations.


We give their pets vaccinations, we treat worms, fleas, ticks, the doctor can treat infections and minor wounds.




We also give away pet supplies, collars, leashes and the lovely dog sweaters a volunteer knits.

When their pets don't need veterinary treatment they can come and get food. We have dog and cat food and believe it or not, we often have rabbit and guinea pig food for the very few who have these kinds of pets!







Our clients gather at 8 AM to wait hours, outside in a parking lot, in every kind of weather, for their turn to see the doctor or the technicians. The pets are wonderfully socialized, cats and dogs mingle and fights are rare. As our clients leave the building they bless us, thank us and sometimes I get a hug!


It's a long day and I'm always tired by the end, but you can't keep me away.

Goodbye Nicki and Nyya

Hello, from the ranch. I had eight horses living here, five are boarders. One day a large horse trailer arrived and took Nicki, a lovely white Arabian mare, and her pasture mate a tall, leggy saddlebred-Arab bay mare, off to their new home in Canada. Their mom had already made the move and was excitedly awaiting their arrival.

The long, sleek horse trailer pulled into the barnyard and the girls walked aboard like the brave, sweet horsies they are.

Nicki had been the second horse to come to my ranch. She arrived in October 2002, a little underweight. She soon gained the pounds she needed to be in good health. Her owner and I became good friends over the years. Nyya (pronounced Neigh-ah) arrived only a few month ago, and she was purchased to keep Nicki company on the two-day trip to their new home.





As the long, sleek trailer pulled out of the barnyard to start the long, two-day trip to their new home, the other horses nicker farewell. I think they understood that we'd never see Nicki or Nyya again. But that's a good thing. Their at home now, with their mom, who can take care of them and love them maybe even more than I did.

It wasn't long and someone new found my ranch. She will be moving in a gelding and a mare in the next couple of weeks. So life on Menagerie Ranch goes on. I'll never forget Nicki and Nyya, but I'm looking forward to meeting the new arrivals. Stay tuned.

Ranch life and stuff

Is anyone out there reading this? If I had readers I would do this more often.

I've been told I need to blog about my life??? Seems I don't live a normal life, so here goes. I live on a ranch in western Oregon. It's tiny by Wyoming standards, only 35 acres and another 15 leased. My husband Dave and I own Menagerie Ranch and I rescue animals. To date I have 10 dogs, 9 horses, 8 cats, 5 goats, 2 pigs and 2 llamas.

Six of the horses are boarded here. Their owners live in town and pay me to feed and pasture their horses. Two are lovely Morgans, both chestnut (dark chocolate brown) with white stockings and blazes. Two are gray Arabians (if the horse's skin is black they're called gray, but there hair is white--go figure??). The last two are both buckskins and the only geldings (boys that have been "altered") on the ranch. One is Bucky (see my previous posts for more about him). The other is Monte, a knockout Keiger mustang.

I'm often asked what is a Keiger mustang. In the remote southeastern section of Oregon is the Keiger valley. Many centuries ago the Spanish came to this country and when they left they didn't take their horses. That's how horses came to America. Some of them got into the Keiger Valley and got trapped. Those mustangs are marked with stripes on their legs and one from the mane to the tail. They are highly intellegent and spirited. Monte is golden with a black tail and his black mane has an overlay of bright gold hair. (Many pay good mony for frosted hair!) He's been DNA tested against old Spanish horse bones and he's a direct descendent!

We had a good hay crop this year, I have a barn full of hay, a total of 1,085 bales. I won't have to buy hay this winter! But right now I'm worried about two goats. These two, son and mama, came to me a few years back. The woman caring for them couldn't handle them. The female, Helga, has a huge bag and had it for two years before I got her. It's a mammery tumor and it's so big she can't put both back feet on the ground at the same time. My vet won't operate because of the huge blood supply to that bag. She's not in pain and always runs for her bucket of grain.

Deufus, her son, has weird front legs. They bend at the knee, but they're bent sideways! I'm giving him Bute, (asprin for large animals) just in case he feels pain. It seems these two goats are terribly inbred. The parents of Helga were brother and sister and Deufus's father was probably the brother of that pair. Anyway it's painful to watch them walk and they're doing it less and less. They made it through last winter but I think the next one will be really hard. I'll watch them and make that Terrible Decision if necessary.

Well that's all for now.

Exciting News

As you know, I volunteer with PBO--Pro-Bone-O (see my last post for a description of what we do). We have joined with another group, the Community Veterinary Clinic (CVC) on a new project. We are establishing a full-service vet clinic for low and no-income people. It will work on a sliding scale and will not turn anyone away because of inability to pay. We hope to open at least one day a week by the end of summer. It is our aim to be open 5-days a week for full service care. If anyone out there is reading this and would like to help please either mail a donation to Building Fund, Community Veterinary Clinic (CVC) and mail it to Pro-Bone-O, PO Box 1823, Eugene, OR 97440. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.