Morgan Farms

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By now, Most of us have heard of the “Bottle-fed berserk male llama ” and even of the “Good female llama ” that turns grumpy until her cria is born. But has anyone known a jealous llama that only goes berserk at one person? Well, I have one. And possibly the only one as far as I can tell. Here is her story. About five years ago, in the spring of 1997, my husband, Brooks announced that we needed some llamas on our farm. I was totally against the idea! "Why on earth would we want a bunch of smelly old llamas?" I asked. We had raised registered Simmental cattle for several years and now had feeder steers during the summer. Surely that was enough! But Brooks was determined and suggested that since he was definitely going to get a few that I might want to help pick them out. Reluctantly, I agreed. After all, I wouldn't have to have anything to do with them. Neither of us knew exactly what we were looking for in a llama, but at least we had the good sense to go to a reputable breeder and ask her advice. She suggested starting with a couple of young females. As we were looking at one group, I felt a little bit of excitement when about a dozen llamas ran up to greet us. Then one with the sweetest brown and white face stuck her head over the fence and gave me a kiss (which I later found out was called a "whiffle".) In that instant, I went from slightly interested to falling totally in love with this llama! Where had these wonderful animals been all my life? This llama, who was still kissing me, was named “Eby ”, and was about one-and-a-half years old. We bought her on the spot. I don't know who was more surprised - my husband or me! Of course, now I was eager to get some more and in another group, the friendliest, all white cria about two weeks old also picked me out. Since she couldn't be separated from her mother, Feliz Navidad, we bought them both. We now had the beginnings of our herd. The owner bred Eby and the cria's mother, Feliz Navidad, for us as part of the package and then delivered all these to our farm a week or so later. It was such an exciting day and it was evident from the start that Eby and I had an almost magical connection. We spent hours together, brushing and loving, going on walks. Eby would wrap herself around me like a big cat and wouldn't leave my side until I had to go in. I even sheared her for the first time out in the field while she kushed and dozed. She was a perfect well-behaved lady at all time~ Noel, the baby, worshipped her, and Eby was very gentle and protective of both of us. This idyllic situation went on for about three months when unfortunately Feliz, Noel's mother, broke her neck from a congenital condition and died. Noel mourned her mother and hissed her terribly. However, she was so attached to Eby that Eby became a lifeline for her. In the meantime, Brooks and I felt that the two of them needed company. So late in the summer, we bought two more females - both yearlings. All four seemed to get along and things went well for several weeks. Eby turned two in September 1997 and had grown into a huge llama almost the size of a horse. One day, Eby seemed a little distant so, I left her alone when suddenly.

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