Marty McGee Bennett
08-02-2005, 09:10 PM
Marty:
*
I just had an amazing breakthrough with an old llama this morning and I would like to share this with you. She's a grand old girl, fit, active, 17 years old and we got her last fall in the hopes she would be good for one or two more babies. She's the last of a line of wonderful classic-type pack stock.
*
'Granny' had been cowboyed the last few years I would guess, maybe roped & thrown, from her reaction to certain things. She has a terror of having her feet handled*to an extent*I have not seen in any other llama.*Face to face with people, her eyelashes flutter & her face wrinkles up in a twitchy nervous squint. She came to me from a rescue home, and her nails were badly overgrown. My one attempt at trimming her nails in the chute*left her terrorized, and scratched & bleeding in a few places, and in spite of months of gentle work around the chute, she has not improved.
*
You had written somewhere that for llamas like this it is sometimes possible to trim the nail while the foot is still on the ground, as long as only the nail is handled, and not the furry hide. Didn't work for her, but your comments gave me an idea. I sometimes sit and talk to her in the field when she is flat out - sunbathing. This was very surprising to me, that she didn't jump up & run away. So one day I tried handling her nails and she did not react at all. Did I catch her sleeping? Worth trying again.
*
This morning she was flat out again, snoozing in the sun, so I went to fetch the nail clippers. I returned, approached her slowly, talking quietly, and lay down beside her. No reaction except for the* twitch of an ear - she knew I was there. I carefully trimmed all four hind nails, and on the last cut, being more confident, I used a little more force and the clippers 'clunked'. Granny rolled up into the sternal position and glared suspiciously at me, but she still was not disturbed enough to jump to her feet. I continued talking to her for a few moments, then got up & left.
*
This was absolutely amazing and I am confident I can trim her front nails the same way, next time I see her sunbathing. I suppose one is putting themselves in a rather vulnerable position to get clipped by flying legs and feet if the llama takes fright, but Granny did not at any time seem the least bit stressed. I can hardly believe this, after seeing*her as a*crazed wild animal in the chute. Can also hardly believe she allows herself to be approached when prone, and allows her nails to be handled.
*
Anyway, something to put in your 'toolbox' that may work again someday.
*
Bev
wow! That is fabulous. That is really true innovation when you take an idea tweak it and make it your own. I will be sure to pass this along and call it the Bev move. It is so amazing isn't it that it isn't the act of trimming toenails that freaks them out it is the restraint we use to do it!
Well done Bev my hat is off. Thanks for taking the time to write. I will save your email and use it in the next revision of the book. If you could get a photo that would be amazing!
Yes, and you have said this many times.
But we do get set in our thinking, and never occurs to most of us to give the llama the opportunity to show us alternate and less invasive ways of doing things.
I will ask Barry to try & get a photo of this - no guarantees, the old girl may be apprehensive being approaches by TWO of us! But we shall try.
Thank you for your kind comments.
Bev
i just have one word for you....Telephoto
Marty:
I wrote you a week or so ago to tell you how excited I was to discover that I could trim this old "rogue" llama when she was sunbathing in the pasture.You asked for photos - here they are. Not great - I did set the camera up on a tripod for Barry across the fence, but I only guessed at what he was seeing. You can't see that the nippers were grasping a hind toenail, ( I was careful not to touch her leg as you once suggested) but you can see that this old girl is oblivious to the pedicure proceedings. Barry only got the one shot as a baby came blasting over to investigate - curious as a cat as you said in the recent CQ article - great stuff! Once baby started poking around, Granny jumped up.
Granny is a wonderful old girl. She is 17, fitter and more active than most of my girls half her age, and pregnant. She took charge of last year's three boys whenever she could get them away from their moms, and she was more distressed than the moms when I weaned the little boys at 9 mos. I found her in a rescue home on the northern Alberta/Saskatchewan border, last of a great bloodline. Most of her line went for meat, when fashion fibre llamas were all the rage. And I am convinced that is where she thought she was going when I picked her up. She was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering, every time I checked her for about 400 miles. Took her that long to settle down. So sad - we may never see their likes again, but I pray for a healthy cria from old Granny. So far so good. She is due in early August and she's in fine shape.
I wish I had a recording of this screaming, terrified and out -of- control llama in the chute when I picked up her feet to trim them. It's hard to believe is same llama as in the sunbathing photo. You can see from her pictures that she is one of those "A" type personalities, tense, alert, and expecting unpleasantness when approached by humans. So why she should be so accepting of my sitting with her in the pasture is a mystery to me. I often sit with her in the shelter also, when she is resting in the sternal position, and as long as I keep hands in pockets she seems to enjoy the company. Go figure.
Wow!
*
I just had an amazing breakthrough with an old llama this morning and I would like to share this with you. She's a grand old girl, fit, active, 17 years old and we got her last fall in the hopes she would be good for one or two more babies. She's the last of a line of wonderful classic-type pack stock.
*
'Granny' had been cowboyed the last few years I would guess, maybe roped & thrown, from her reaction to certain things. She has a terror of having her feet handled*to an extent*I have not seen in any other llama.*Face to face with people, her eyelashes flutter & her face wrinkles up in a twitchy nervous squint. She came to me from a rescue home, and her nails were badly overgrown. My one attempt at trimming her nails in the chute*left her terrorized, and scratched & bleeding in a few places, and in spite of months of gentle work around the chute, she has not improved.
*
You had written somewhere that for llamas like this it is sometimes possible to trim the nail while the foot is still on the ground, as long as only the nail is handled, and not the furry hide. Didn't work for her, but your comments gave me an idea. I sometimes sit and talk to her in the field when she is flat out - sunbathing. This was very surprising to me, that she didn't jump up & run away. So one day I tried handling her nails and she did not react at all. Did I catch her sleeping? Worth trying again.
*
This morning she was flat out again, snoozing in the sun, so I went to fetch the nail clippers. I returned, approached her slowly, talking quietly, and lay down beside her. No reaction except for the* twitch of an ear - she knew I was there. I carefully trimmed all four hind nails, and on the last cut, being more confident, I used a little more force and the clippers 'clunked'. Granny rolled up into the sternal position and glared suspiciously at me, but she still was not disturbed enough to jump to her feet. I continued talking to her for a few moments, then got up & left.
*
This was absolutely amazing and I am confident I can trim her front nails the same way, next time I see her sunbathing. I suppose one is putting themselves in a rather vulnerable position to get clipped by flying legs and feet if the llama takes fright, but Granny did not at any time seem the least bit stressed. I can hardly believe this, after seeing*her as a*crazed wild animal in the chute. Can also hardly believe she allows herself to be approached when prone, and allows her nails to be handled.
*
Anyway, something to put in your 'toolbox' that may work again someday.
*
Bev
wow! That is fabulous. That is really true innovation when you take an idea tweak it and make it your own. I will be sure to pass this along and call it the Bev move. It is so amazing isn't it that it isn't the act of trimming toenails that freaks them out it is the restraint we use to do it!
Well done Bev my hat is off. Thanks for taking the time to write. I will save your email and use it in the next revision of the book. If you could get a photo that would be amazing!
Yes, and you have said this many times.
But we do get set in our thinking, and never occurs to most of us to give the llama the opportunity to show us alternate and less invasive ways of doing things.
I will ask Barry to try & get a photo of this - no guarantees, the old girl may be apprehensive being approaches by TWO of us! But we shall try.
Thank you for your kind comments.
Bev
i just have one word for you....Telephoto
Marty:
I wrote you a week or so ago to tell you how excited I was to discover that I could trim this old "rogue" llama when she was sunbathing in the pasture.You asked for photos - here they are. Not great - I did set the camera up on a tripod for Barry across the fence, but I only guessed at what he was seeing. You can't see that the nippers were grasping a hind toenail, ( I was careful not to touch her leg as you once suggested) but you can see that this old girl is oblivious to the pedicure proceedings. Barry only got the one shot as a baby came blasting over to investigate - curious as a cat as you said in the recent CQ article - great stuff! Once baby started poking around, Granny jumped up.
Granny is a wonderful old girl. She is 17, fitter and more active than most of my girls half her age, and pregnant. She took charge of last year's three boys whenever she could get them away from their moms, and she was more distressed than the moms when I weaned the little boys at 9 mos. I found her in a rescue home on the northern Alberta/Saskatchewan border, last of a great bloodline. Most of her line went for meat, when fashion fibre llamas were all the rage. And I am convinced that is where she thought she was going when I picked her up. She was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering, every time I checked her for about 400 miles. Took her that long to settle down. So sad - we may never see their likes again, but I pray for a healthy cria from old Granny. So far so good. She is due in early August and she's in fine shape.
I wish I had a recording of this screaming, terrified and out -of- control llama in the chute when I picked up her feet to trim them. It's hard to believe is same llama as in the sunbathing photo. You can see from her pictures that she is one of those "A" type personalities, tense, alert, and expecting unpleasantness when approached by humans. So why she should be so accepting of my sitting with her in the pasture is a mystery to me. I often sit with her in the shelter also, when she is resting in the sternal position, and as long as I keep hands in pockets she seems to enjoy the company. Go figure.
Wow!