Ken and Marty St. Clair, 195 Valley Drive, Rougemont NC 27572, 1 800 821-3060

elevenses@mindspring.com

Please visit our other pages by clicking below:

Home, Policies, On the Farm, Donkeys etc, Twins, Fun Facts, Male Llamas I, Male Llamas II, Female Llamas I, Female Llamas II, Llama Herdsires, Former Llama Herdsires, Donkey Herdsires

We were still bottle-feeding Lady Niten Day on Day Three, May 9, 2006, when we noted her energy dropping.  While she didn’t have a fever, she refused her bottle.  We rushed her to Flat River Veterinary Hospital, along with a bag of llama plasma.  Our veterinarian transfused her and we had her back with her most attentive mom within an hour!  Within a day, her energy and appetite returned and the next day she transferred from the bottle to her mom.  She hasn’t looked back since!  Lady Niten Day is unbelievably friendly, giving kisses to anyone who gets into range!  Come see this very special little girl!

April, 2006

We came home from an event in Chapel Hill on Sunday April 2, 2006 to find that Twyla had given birth approximately 30 minutes earlier. This precious little girl was born approximately 6:00 PM.  Since her father is Pachinko, we named her Konichiwa (a Japanese greeting).  Konichiwa was not interested in nursing so we gave her colostrum by bottle.  We continued to bottle feed her even though it was obvious she was also getting milk from Mom.  We figured as long as she still wanted the bottle, we should supply it.  Finally, on Day 8, Konichiwa decided that we could put the bottle away for good.  Konichiwa is funny, friendly, and full of energy.  What more could you want in a baby?

March, 20006

We decided to retire Pachinko in February and immediately started looking for a new herdsire.  Our first phone call was to our good friend, Paige McGrath of Lower Sherwood Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. When we declined all of the younger males she had for sale, she offered a mature breeding male to us:  Checkmate McGrath.  “Checkers” is eleven years old, a proven breeder, and the fraternal half brother to their premier breeder, The Spin Doctor.  We couldn’t believe that Paige would let us have this very special boy!  We immediately made plans to travel to Charlottesville and on Saturday, March 4, 2006, we brought Checkers home to North Carolina.

Checkers is a large, heavy wooled, big boned, white male with a brown tail and brown markings on his face.  He is unbelievably easy and loves attention.  He gives the sweetest kisses and has a great sense of humor (he loves jumping into the hay storage to select the very best hay!).  It has been so much fun to watch him react to all the new sights.  Imagine Carin Cole’s disgust when he alarmed donkeys.  Donkeys!  We have already bred Carin Cole, Kachina Mana, Ride Sally and Glory Day to Checkers.  We are positively thrilled to have Checkers in our breeding program and can hardly wait for next year to see his babies!

February, 2006

Saturday, February 11, 2006, we delivered Chase, Confetti, and Karrin Jo (three weanling donkeys) to their new home in Sunbury, NC.  We left before 6:00 AM to try to stay ahead of the forecast rain/sleet/snow - and because we were watching three llamas who were about to give birth.  We got home at 1:00 PM - right after Elevenses Glory Day had her baby!  He is a beautiful dark gray boy whose father is Pachinko and we named him Elevenses Kenkoku Dei.  He was born on Japan's National Foundation Day (Kenkoku Dei), celebrating the crowning of their first emperor.  Kenkoku is unbelievably stunning in that lovely gray wool.  What a show stopper! 

The very next day, Elevenses Kachina gave birth to a great big beautiful girl, her second daughter by Titan.  We want to continue the Native American tradition and so searched for the very best Native American name for this gorgeous white cria with a black blanket.  We think we found it in Elevenses Miwok.  The Miwok are native to central California.  Before the westerners arrived, the Miwok enjoyed thousands of peaceful years in the pristine beauty of Angel Island.  The Miwok had an animistic philosophy: they wanted no walls and trod lightly on the land, leaving no footsteps, always apologizing to the spirits in animals or nature whenever they disturbed them.  There is no evidence the Miwok had words for such concepts as war.  Kachina’s Miwok is incredibly strong and straight.  She is curious and friendly.  We think Kachina has another winner in this gorgeous baby!

Flicker went into labor around 5:30 PM, February 13, 2006.  There was nothing showing by 7:30 PM and she was rapidly losing energy.  So I went in.  The baby was in there and in the proper position, but not in the birth canal.  I found the nose and both feet and brought them out.  It took us a while but we delivered a beautiful 33 pound girl!  She is black with white feet and a white tuxedo.  She was standing in 15 minutes, but did not nurse until 10:15 PM.  Since her mother’s registered name is Firelight Dream and her dad is Titan, we named her Elevenses Conflagration (big fire).  Conflagration is incredibly friendly, giving kisses to anyone and everyone!  What a precious little llama!

January, 2006

We had been watching Elevenses Arcadia for several days.  Monday, January 30, 2006 looked like the day.  She went into labor between 3:00 and 4:00 PM.  By 4:25 PM, she pushed out a bubble, but there was no foot or nose inside it.  Five minutes of really hard pushing didn't change anything and we knew Arcadia had a dystocia. We called our vet who arrived at 5:00 PM.  He put his hand inside and determined the baby had head down and forelegs back.  He got the baby in the right position and had to pull really hard; five minutes later he delivered a live baby girl!  Thirty minutes later she was standing and 30 minutes after that she was nursing!  Her dad is Pachinko and her name is Elevenses Sudoku (that very popular Japanese game where you have to put nine numbers in a row without repeating any of them).  She is BEAUTIFUL!  And Arcadia is a wonderful mom.  Sometimes things just go right. 

December, 2005

Elevenses Carin Cole was on gestation day 337 on December 18 and we were not even thinking about a baby.  But Carin Cole was!  At about noon, she gave birth to an absolutely smashing black baby with white stockings, a white face, and a wide white tuxedo.  This precocious little boy was standing and nursing in no time and at 25.2 pounds, you couldn’t tell that he was ten days early.  With Titan as his father, it seemed fitting that we name him Elevenses Baldur – the Scandanavian God of Peace.  Let’s hope that Baldur is not only precocious, but prophetic.

June, 2005

Elevenses Isis gave birth to a lovely little girl on Tuesday, June 21, 2005.  This precious baby, whose father is Pachinko, was named Elevenses Midori, after Midori Ito, the amazing Japanese figure skater.  Our Midori looks just like her mother.  She is reddish brown with darker legs and a dark gray face.  She has extraordinary fier and is just about the sweetest thing you have ever seen!  So now our twins have each had a single baby and we can breathe again!  Midori and her cousin, Elevenses Takami, are the very best of friends.  Come visit them and experience this extraordinary family

April, 2005

Evita gave birth to the full brother of Elevenses Ancho Poblano on April 7, 2005.  Each of Evita's babies get Latino names, and since this active boy had something to say from the minute he came out, his name immediately became Elevenses Orador (Spanish for talker or orator).  Orador, whose father is Titan, is tall and straight with shiny black fiber.  He is formally dressed with white stockings, a white neckerchief, and white eyebrows.  Talk about striking!  Orador is easy to handle, confident, and intelligent.  And given that his mother and father are among the largest llamas on the farm, we believe Orador will be a very big boy when he gets his growth.

We bred the twins, Serqet and Isis, to Pachinko last spring.  Serqet, the smaller and younger of the twins, got pregnant first.  She gave birth to her cria on April 14, 2005.  He was a very tiny 17.5 pounds, but perfect in every other way.  This little guy is primarily white with black face and feet.  And then he has these interesting brown spots all over his body.  He is Pachinko's first appaloosa!  Even though Serqet was bottle-raised, she is a loving and devoted mom and is providing plenty of milk for her little boy.  His name?  Well he is the son of a twin and his father is Pachinko so he has to have a Japanese name.  Marty spent her childhood with Japanese-American twins Janet and Janis Takami and it just seemed appropriate to name Serqet's son Elevenses Takami.  OK, Isis, you are next!

Saturday night April 23 at 6:30, Elevenses Fiesta had her baby.  A beautiful 27 pound boy.  At 10:30 PM, he still hadn't nursed, so we offered him a bottle of colostrum.  He wouldn't swallow. Absolutely wouldn't swallow.  The colostrum dribbled into his mouth and back out again We tried again at 12:30 AM.  No luck. He still wouldn’t swallow.  In 130 llama babies, this had never happened!  We were going to have to tube him.  We had never tubed a baby!   While Ken looked for our tube (purchased several years ago - hoping we would never have to use it), I looked for instructions on tubing a baby.  Insert on the left, do not go down too far, listen to be sure you didn't access the airway, give 4 ounces, do again in 2 hours, then gradually increase the volume.  So we tubed our first baby.  And again in two hours.  And again in 2 hours.  Then, we started increasing the volume, as our directions stated.  Every time, we offered him the bottle first.  When he wouldn't swallow, we switched to the tube.  Eventually, we got 44 ounces down this baby!!!  This is more colostrum than we have ever given a cria!

We switched to kid milk replacer after 24 hours. He still refused the bottle so we tubed eight ounces at 6:00 PM and again at 10:00 PM Sunday night.  We slept through that night and offered him a bottle at 4:00 AM Monday morning.  He took it!  He wasn't good at it and it took 15 minutes, but he SWALLOWED it!!!!!!  Six hours later, Ken gave him another bottle and he sucked it right down!  What a guy!!  Just two hours later, he was nursing on Fiesta, who should get an award for being the best maiden mother ever!  Fiesta immediately bonded with her son and never seemed to be overly upset that he didn’t want to nurse.  She said she was perfectly content to let him take his time.  Oh yes.  Now that it was obvious this little boy was going to make it, he needed a name.  We consulted Megan Valentine, who came up with the perfect name:  Elevenses Fast Track.  His mom is Fiesta and his dad is Titan.  And now he is on the Fast Track.

March, 2005

We purchased two male llamas from Jerry and Carolyn Ayers of Walnut Ridge Llamas in Chuckey, TN.  WRLF Epic's Encore is out of BAL Epic, a llama with more Grand Champions than I can count!  We expect Encore to mature into a herdsire, to replace America's Patriot who was retired this past fall.  Encore is a beautiful black llama with a full tuxedo.  He has his father's conformation and is so very easy to handle.  We expect him to pass both his conformation and his personality to his crias.

And the other little boy?  Well, he is WRLF Special Edition (also a BAL Epic son) and he was just so adorable, we couldn't pass him up!  Special Eddie is a gorgeous little appaloosa with personality plus!  He is so small that we don't expect him to grow up to be a herdsire, but there is no doubt he will spread joy everywhere he goes.  Welcome to Elevenses, Special Eddie!

December, 2004

Wouldn’t you know it?  The day we were both in the hospital for Ken’s total knee replacement (December 13, 2004), two (yes, TWO!) crias were born on Elevenses!  Flicker gave birth to a beautiful black boy with white markings on his face and the obligatory red cheeks.  Noel gave birth to an adorable little girl; completely reddish-brown.  Both babies were fathered by Patriot.  Since these two precious babies were born on Ken’s special day and since he is from Wisconsin, they were named after Wisconsin cities.  Flicker’s son is Elevenses Lac du Flambeau and Noel’s daughter is Elevenses Prairie du Chien. 

The day after these two babies were born, I went out to the Nursery to feed their moms and found Flambeau flat on the ground.  In a panic, I checked him and he was warm and breathing.  But he did not want to sit up.  I took his temperature.  It was 100.5; normal.  Then I gave him a warm water enema and managed to get four ounces of kid milk replacer down him.  I called our vet who said I had treated Flambeau properly and the only additional thing she would suggest was to give him some banamine.  So I did and in two hours he was sternal.  In another two hours, he passed his meconium and was nursing.  Whew!  Relief!  Flambeau and Prairie brought so much happiness to a very stressed household when we most needed it.  What precious babies!  Thank you, Flicker and Noel!

December 26, 2004, Elevenses Kachina gave birth to a gorgeous dark brown cria with white stockings.  We knew this striking son of Titan needed a very special name and after hours of considerations, we finally settled on Elevenses Hillerman.  Tony Hillerman is the author of numerous novels based in the Four Corners and we enjoy his depiction of Native American life.  Our Hillerman is very correct, very intelligent, and holds great promise for the future.

The very next day, Pollyanna gave birth to another Titan son, Elevenses Pollux (Pollux is a star in the constellation Gemini).  Pollux is solid black with the most expressive eyes you have ever seen.  Pollux is a little small, but not the least bit deficient in the energy department!  He is a natural escape artist, managing to get out of the nursery several times before he was even 24 hours old!  This little imp is already driving his older brothers and sister crazy! 

May, 2004

Elevenses Carin Cole was on day 350 of her pregnancy when she gave birth, on May 5, 2004, to a beautiful single (this is significant since Carin Cole is the mother of our twins) daughter by Mosette's Titan.  Carin Cole's new cria looks just like her mom.  We named this new one Elevenses Kali.  Kali is the Hindu Goddess of Cosmic Power.  Also known as the Black One, her name means "The Ferry across the Ocean of Existence."  Kali is shiny black and brilliant white with extraordinary conformation.  Not a big surprise, considering her mom and dad!  This one is destined to pull in the ribbons in the show ring.

April, 2004

We had been watching Elevenses Celestial Fire (Celeste) for several days when she went into labor on Monday, April 19, 2004.  Ken watched closely and at 3:50 PM, he saw a nose.  Thirty minutes later, no additional progress had been made, so he put his hand inside and extracted first one and then the second leg.  Once both feet were in the proper position, Celeste was able to push the baby out.  This beautiful black and white female weighed 27 pounds and was standing within an hour and a half.  We try to give astronomical names to Celeste babies; since her father is America’s Patriot, she also needed a patriotic name.  Ken came up with the perfect combination.  Imagine the flag of the United States: stripes of red and white; white stars among a field of blue.  Her name became Elevenses Starfield.

Starfield was not yet nursing at four hours after birth, so we started giving her colostrum by bottle.  Twenty-four hours later, she had consumed 39 ounces colostrum and we switched her to kid mild replacer.  We fed Starfield by bottle for three days, when she decided to switch to Mom.  Starfield is a straight, correct, full of energy and striking in her black and white formal attire.

Elevenses Cassiopeia gave birth to a smashing white baby on Sunday, April 4, 2004.  She is white with red cheeks and tiny black dots all over her back.  Her dad is Pachinko and we are trying to give Pachinko babies Japanese names.  We finally settled on E|levenses Kujira (Japanese translation for the constellation Cetus, literally "whale").  Kujira is beautiful, intelligent, and funny...just like her mom!  This one is going to be a winner!

March, 2004

Elevenses Glory Day had a beautiful baby boy on Wednesday, March 24, 2004.  His father is Pachinko, and we are giving Pachinko babies Japanese names.  But Glory Day's kids have Day in their names (Elevenses Winter's Day, Elevenses Billie Holiday), so it was quite a challenge to name this gorgeous little guy.  We finally settled on Elevenses Haru Dei, Japanese for Spring Day.  Haru Dei is a beautiful red and white llama with wool to die for.  He is intelligent, confident and friendly.  Wow!  What a package!

February, 2004

Elevenses Evita gave birth to her fourth cria (and Titan's first son!) on Saturday, February 21, 2004.  He is tall, straight, covered with luscious black wool, and promises to be every bit as impressive as his father.  We always give Evita’s crias Latino names, and finally settled on Elevenses Ancho Poblano for this impressive little guy.  Ancho Poblano is a dried chili pepper used in Mexican cooking; specifically, Poblano is the pepper used to make chili rellenos.  Our Poblano is full of spice and character and will liven up the world wherever he goes!     

January, 2004

Wednesday, January 21, 2004, Twyla gave birth to her eighth cria.  This little girl was born on gestation day 333 and was just 21.5 pounds.  She is solid black with wool to die for, just like her dad, Titan.  We named this little girl Elevenses Ganymede.  As Titan is Saturn's largest moon and Ganymede is Jupiter's largest moon, it only made sense.  Ganymede is full of personality, as are all of Twyla's babies. 

November, 2003

Wednesday, November 19, 2003 was a day to remember!  A line of storms crossed North Carolina, leaving in its wake, wind damage, two to five inches of rain, and more than a few nervous people.  By evening, everything was calm again and we were doing our routine chores.  I went into the nursery and fixed bowls for Kachina, Pollyanna (who already had Rainier), and Michelle (who was nursing Althea).  I put them down and the three girls went to their feed stations as usual.  When Kachina finished hers, she turned to see if she could steal Pollyanna's food and I saw a head and two feet sticking out of her back end!  Kachina was in the process of having a baby!  Not one to take a chance on missing a meal, she gave me no hint that she was actually in labor!  I quickly put her halter on, moved her into the interior stall, and ran into the house for towels.  When I returned, I helped Kachina give birth to her fifth daughter.  As this child is Titan's first progeny, she was born on an extremely windy day, and she was truly an "unexpected good fortune", we named her Elevenses Windfall.  Whoooeee!  What a beauty!  Congratulations, Kachina and Titan!

Pollyanna gave birth to her eighth cria on November 4, 2003.  And what a cria he is!  This little guy is primarily white, with a black head, large brown spots on his left hip and shoulder, dark brown feet, and (the big surprise!) a totally dark brown left rear leg!  He is so blindingly handsome, you will need to wear sunglasses if you come to visit him!  We knew he had to have an extraordinary name and since Patriot is his father, we needed to give him a patriotic name.  Pollyanna previously gave birth to Mt. McKinley by Patriot, so we decided to call this new little one Mt. Rainier.  Rainier is big boned, correct, friendly, and LOUD!  But don't take my word for it.  Come see him for yourself.

October, 2003

Surprise!  Michelle wasn’t due until October 18, 2003, so we were not looking for a baby on October 6.  Maybe we should have been.  Michelle chose this crisp fall day to give birth to her sixth cria and fifth daughter.  At only 338 days gestation, this little beauty, whose father is Patriot,  weighed just 23.75 pounds.  As Michelle is our most athletic llama, we name her babies after athletes (Elevenses Michelle’s Kwan, Elevenses Martina N, Elevenses Annika, Elevenses Sammyso, Elevenses Brandi).  So this dark brown baby was named Elevenses Althea.  Althea Gibson was the first black person to win the French Tennis Championship, Wimbledon, and the US Nationals.  In 1957, Althea was the first black woman to be voted by the Associated Press as its Female Athlete of the year.  She won this honor again in 1958.  A true pioneer for black athletes, Althea Gibson died on September 28, 2003 at the age of 76.  We proudly honor Althea Gibson by naming our first fall 2003 cria after her.

July, 2003

On June 19, 2003 Ken was closing the critters in to the paddocks prior to feeding lunch.  As he got to our yearling female herd, Accolade was standing at the gate humming.  She didn’t want to go in, so Ken went around behind her to coax her.  And he found a new baby.  Cushed on the ground.  Brain shut-down. He reached out to the cria to touch it, as if it was a visual hallucination and would disappear.  Nope.  Accolade was 16 months old and, of course, had never been intentionally bred.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with our management processes, our mature herds consist of a breeding male, the females he is bred to, and any babies they have.  We wean the babies at six months, which works well, as the females generally become fertile around 8-10 months of age.  This girl was an exception, as she was obviously fertile and bred at 4-5 months of age by Pachinko, the herdsire she was living with at the time..  After about 110 births this is the first time this has happened.  It caused us to reassess our policy but we have decided the benefits of raising babies with both mom and dad outweigh the potential for this undesirable happenstance.  Sansai (the new little boy – meaning second-generation Japanese-American) was 17 pounds at birth, had already nursed when he was discovered, gained 2.5 pounds in his first three days of life, and is the most entrancing little jewel imaginable.  The two largest concerns regarding this event proved groundless.  Accolade is in good condition physically in spite of growing a baby at the time she should have been growing herself.  And she is a great mom, fully bonded with Sansei and devoted to him, with plenty of milk.  What could have been a disaster has turned into a celebration.

May, 2003

Flicker broke her water at 11:30 AM on May 26, 2003.  By 12:00 noon, we still had no sign of a baby, so I grabbed some gloves and went in.  The baby was in the normal position, so I just guided it out and at 12:15 PM, Flicker gave birth to a GREAT big baby girl!  Did I say big?  Would you believe 35 pounds?!?  No wonder she needed some help!  While this gorgeous girl was standing at just 20 minutes, she seemed to have no interest in nursing.  So, at four hours old, we started giving her colostrum.  She got 19 ounces of colostrum in the first 12 hours, an additional seven ounces of colostrum in the next seven hours.  It was at this point that she realized Mom had something much better than what we had in a bottle and she hasn’t stopped nursing since!  Her name?  Well, she is a Pachinko daughter, so we wanted a Japanese name.  Flicker’s registered name is DDL Firelight Dream, so we finally settled on Elevenses Inazuma, Japanese for Lightning.  We call her Zuma.  Zuma is big, straight, very friendly, and has unbelievable wool!  She loves to give kisses and talks to anyone who will talk to her.  Come see her!  You will be struck by lightning!

April, 2003

Wednesday afternoon, April 23, 2003, Mary Noel FEPJ gave birth to her seventh cria.  This little guy was 29.5 pounds at birth and is Pachinko McGrath’s first son.  All of Noel’s babies have Mary in their name (to honor Noel’s mother who died nine years ago) and all of Pachinko’s kids have been given Japanese names.  It took us a while, but we think we came up with just the right name for this gorgeous, completely white, cria.  His name is Elevenses Tsunami Mari.  Tsunami is very heavy wooled and very big boned.  He has his father’s beautiful face and ears.  Congratulations, Noel and Pachinko!

March, 2003

Elevenses Glory Day went into labor Sunday afternoon, March 2, 2003.  After two hours, she was not making visible progress, so I put my hand in to see what I could feel.  I immediately found a head and one foot.  I tried again and found the other foot.  I retrieved my hand without bringing out the cria.  I must have aligned the baby because now Glory was able to give birth to her.  As soon as we weighed this beautiful black, brown, and white baby, we understood the problem.  She weighed 32 pounds!  Glory Day’s last baby was named Elevenses Winter’s Day and we decided to follow that pattern.  It didn’t take us long to name Glory’s new baby Elevenses Billie Holiday.  Billie Holiday, whose father is Patriot, still had not nursed by four hours, so we gave her ten ounces of colostrum.  Four hours later, we checked her only to find that she was nursing on Mom.  Success!  Billie Holiday is strong, straight, and everything anyone could ever want in a llama.  Come visit her!

Friday, March 14, 2003 was the day Nicole decided to give birth to her sixteenth cria.  She easily gave birth to a beautiful 27 pound white llama with a brown tail and black and brown slashes across her back.  Since this little girl’s father is Pachinko McGrath, we thought she should have a Japanese name.  Additionally, all of Nicole’s babies have Cole in their names.  We settled on Elevenses Meiko Cole.  She is the perfect combination of her mother and her father.  She is full of fun and energy and is a little doll!  Congratulations, Nicole and Pachinko!

Elevenses Celestial Fire (Celeste) broke her water at 2:00 PM on March 26, 2003.  By 2:20 PM, there was nothing visible, so Ken donned gloves and went in.  He managed to extract two front feet, but the head was upside-down.  Ken immediately called our vet, and at 3:25 PM, our vet arrived.  After a great deal of manipulation, he delivered a live, if a little stunned, female cria.  We immediately named her Elevenses Wasabi (Japanese horse radish) in honor of her father, Pachinko McGrath.  Wasabi was 30 pounds at birth and has the most beautiful, dark gray fiber.  Her brains were a little fried from the extended time she spent in the birth canal, and so she had no idea what Mom’s nipples were.  We started feeding her colostrum and by 12 hours, she had consumed 21 ounces!  At that time, her head cleared and she immediately switched to Mom.  Wasabi is very tall, straight, and incredibly friendly.  She definitely does her dad proud!

February, 2003

We adopted a llama with meningeal worm on November 26, 2002 (see below) We named this boy Christopher and immediately set up a hoist and sling system so that we could raise him twice a day to exercise his legs.  Very quickly, we realized that meningeal worm wasn’t his only problem.  He had some very serious injuries of his left rear foot and leg that required veterinary care.  During the two-and-a-half months that we had Christopher, we loved him, hoisted him, bandaged him, and injected him.  By the end of January, he was putting weight on his front legs and his right rear leg.  At no time did he ever put weight on his left rear leg.  He was examined by a third veterinarian on January 30, who suggested he be transferred to North Carolina State Veterinary Teaching Hospital for additional evaluation. 

With the help of several friends, we loaded Christopher into the van Monday, February 4, 2003 and took him to the Vet School.  Tuesday morning they X-rayed his left rear leg.  He had so much infection in the bones of the foot that about 50% of the bone was gone.  Many options were discussed, such as removing his outside toe, fusing together whatever bones they can find, casting.  No one was encouraged that any of these options would be successful.     After much discussion and soul-searching, we decided to end Christopher's ordeal and have him euthanized.  We miss Christopher terribly and are comforted only by thoughts of him frolicking joyfully across the Rainbow Bridge.  We thank everyone for their thoughts and encouraging words during the time that Christopher graced our lives with his courage and with his love.

January, 2003

Elevenses Aquila went into labor at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, January 3, 2003.  By 12:35 PM, there was still no presentation.  So Ken put on a pair of latex gloves, lubricated them with K-Y jelly, and went in.  He immediately found a head, but had to feel around before finding one, then two(!), feet.  At 1:00 PM, Aquila finally gave birth to a great big 31 pound baby girl.  Her father is America’s Patriot and we try to give Patriot babies patriotic names.  In addition, Aquila is the Eagle constellation, so a flying patriot would honor both mother and father.  It didn’t take long to come up with the perfect name for this baby:  Elevenses Ride Sally Ride!  Ride Sally is nearly black, just like her mother.  She has a white chin, a white spot on her nose, and red on he cheeks, just like her grandmother.  Ride Sally is tall, straight, and big-boned.  She is everything anyone could ever want in a llama!

Elevenses Evita had her baby on January 20, 2003; day 358.  She had a beautiful little girl of 26 pounds.  All of Evita's babies have Latino names, so we named this precious darling Elevenses Arcadia (“adventurous”).  She is Apperson red (yes, Apperson is her father with white legs, white tuxedo, and a face of white, brown, and black.  Her ears are black.  She is full of fun and curiosity!  Since Arcadia’s father is Apperson, and since we just sold Elevenses Carnie (an absolutely outrageous Apperson daughter), we have decided to keep her.  She is going to make some beautiful babies for us some day! 

December, 2002

We weren’t expecting a baby on December 28, 2002.  We certainly weren’t expecting a baby at 6:30 AM!  Elevenses Twylight Eclipse (Twyla) obviously had other plans.  Twyla was only on gestation day 336 (our average gestation time is 347 days), but she broke her water at 6:00 AM and by 6:35 AM, she slipped out a beautiful baby girl.  This gorgeous red-brown baby with the intelligent, gray face, was 28 pounds, very vocal, and VERY opinionated (“I don’t WANT you to dry me any more!”).  She is the spitting image of her father, Apperson Jackrabbit GLE, and was named Elevenses Holly Golightly (remember Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s?) by her new owners.  That’s right.  This precious darling was reserved MONTHS ago and is already sold!  You’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning if you want to have a Twyla kid!

On Monday, November 25, 2002, we received a call from a woman who was taking care of a llama with meningeal worm.  Two weeks earlier a veterinarian had correctly diagnosed the illness (the llama had never been vaccinated nor dewormed as far as anyone knows) and treated it very aggressively as per instructions from the North Carolina State Veterinary School.  Amazingly, he survived the acute disease but was left unable to stand.  The owner wanted the llama moved off his farm.  We offered to take financial responsibility for his care, expecting that we would be transporting him to the Vet School.  When the Vet School was contacted, they said the llama would do just as well at our house, that we needed to continue low dose banamine (for pain and swelling) and omeprazole (to prevent ulcer generation), and we needed to rig up a sling so we could raise him twice a day.  The very next day, we transported the llama to our place. 

The first thing we did was change his name to Christopher Reeve.  The original Christopher Reeve has surpassed all predictions of healing, physical sensation, and muscular control and it was all due to his hard work.  We wanted to inspire our Christopher to do the same.  The second thing we did was set up the sling.  We had a couple of false starts and had to replace cable, pulley, and come-along, but we finally settled on a sling that works.

Christopher is wonderful!  He is so very affectionate, it just breaks your heart!  He has an assortment of hay and a bowl of llama chow available at all times.  We go out with warm water several times a day so he doesn't have to drink cold water.  We keep a blanket on him at night, although he seems to be doing a reasonable job of maintaining his temperature.  Christopher has total control of his head and neck and partial control of his front legs.  If he isn't propped up with hay bales, he falls over.  He is a big boy, weighing around 350 and it is a real job turning him and cleaning him.  But he returns all favors with hugs and kisses.  We love him dearly and are happy for the opportunity to make him comfortable.

Very unfortunately, as if meningeal worm isn’t enough to deal with, Christopher has a very serious injury on his left rear leg.  The injury goes all the way to the bone and runs the length of his leg from the hock to the fetlock.   Whether this injury is the cause of his swollen left rear foot or if he had a separate injury is anybody’s guess.  The injury was cleaned and treated and Christopher was put on antibiotics for eight days.  We were told that an injury this severe could take as long as a month to heal.  We are changing his dressing every other day and keeping it as clean as possible while we wait for it to heal.

As of this writing, Christopher is six weeks down the road from the acute disease.  He is not yet standing, but we continue to exercise him twice a day.  We honestly don’t know what his prognosis is, but we will not give up on him until we are certain there is no longer any hope.  The really sad part of this whole story is that this didn’t need to happen.  Deworming with ivermectin is inexpensive and effective against meningeal worm. Please do not take this chance with your llamas.  Deworm your llamas regularly and often (please consult with your veterianarian as you plan their health care).  The devastating effects of meningeal worm are much too serious to risk. 

November, 2002

I stayed home late on November 11, 2002, as I had a dental appointment at 9:00 AM.  Rain was forecast and we were desperately trying to spread the last of the manure before the rain started.  I was shoveling you know what until the last minute.  As I was driving out, I decided to check Elevenses Carin Cole, who was on day 350 of her gestation.  A BABY!!!  I screamed at Ken (so as to be heard above the noise of the tractor) and we quickly moved Carin Cole and her baby into the Nursery.  I jumped back into the car and just barely made it to the dentist.  I didn’t even know what sex the baby was!  All I really knew for sure was that this was but a single baby. 

This is significant as Carin Cole is the mother of the twins and we were not anxious for a repeat performance.  When I got back from the dentist, I learned that this beautiful boy was 25 pounds and was marked very much like his mother.  It took us all day to name him, but I think we came up with a winner.  Elevenses Appian Way honors his father, Apperson, and continues the trend of naming Carin Cole’s babies (her first two sons are Elevenses Fallingwater and Elevenses Taliesen) after architectural wonders.  Appian Way is a road built by the Romans under the direction of Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 BC.  Appian Way was more than 350 miles long and it was the main route from Rome to Greece.  Parts of Appian Way are still in use today.

October, 2002

Mosette’s Titan arrived on October 7, 2002.  He is a tall, stretchy, straight medium wooled llama with a great pedigree.  His mother is LLL Chantuse Mosette and his maternal grandfather is Feni Moses Othello.  His father is E. R. Hercules, out of The Fiduciary.  His fraternal grandfather is Oko Castizo.  Titan is a five year old intact male who has been living with other intact males and has not yet been used for breeding.  We believe Titan is exactly the llama we want and will give us some gorgeous babies.

Unfortunately, Titan has had essentially no handling and is going to require a lot of work, patience, love and discipline.  Titan has received his first lessons and has already responded.  We have great plans for this gorgeous boy! 

May, 2002