HERD SECURITY I find there is a new and active market here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for llamas. They are being purchased by local farmers because they are proved to be dependable "watch dogs" in protecting livestock herds from scavengers.
The particular unwelcome rustler of calves and lambs in the area is steadily increasing numbers of wild hungry and inquisitive coyotes. They were re-established in the area upon environmentalist insistence several decades ago. The e-agitators are now campaigning for the re-introduction of the wolf to its olden-days of glory and lordship in numerous locales here in the Virginia-North Carolina highlands. Evidence indicates the wolf was more numerous in the Shenandoah Valley than the coyote, and that they prospered by keeping the deer and bison herds in check.
llamas, "The Shenandoah Herald," Woodstock, Va. (SVHonline .com)(Mary Byrd Blackwell) reports that one nearby llama farm is currently selling llamas for four hundred dollars and up per head to serve as caretaker-guards. The llama, grazing with cattle or sheep remains amazingly alert and protectively cares for the herd by warning them that predators are nearby. Calves and lambs, favorite coyote foods, can be protected or removed from the immediate danger area. Farmer who are suffering losses due to the wanton raids by vicious coyotes are finding it to be worth while to keep llamas grazing with their other animals. The llama will sound the alarm when predators are found to be nearby and and lambs can be better protected or moved to a less dangerous area. People who have put the llama to work as watchmen and police work are finding their loss due to coyote raids to be falling.
If your age level is bumping the ceiling like mine, you must recall how Valley poultry raisers used to always allow a few guinea hens to mooch their meals and have a place to roost. They were the best watch-dogs a man could get. If a strange car came down our lane from the highway we were warned. Our family vehicles - even during late night - entered with a few friendly cackles telling the chickens everything was okay.
Remember when you used to see a proud owner marching down the street in your favorite holiday parade leading his pet llama? People in the crowd who didn't know any better would scream: "Oh! Look-at-the-ostrich!". Those days of showcasing a novelty are no more. They are gone. More and more people realize that these fine birds may well be, one day, an important segment of the livestock wealth of the entire Appalachian Range in both Virginia and North Carolina.
A.L.M. March 4, 2006 [c454wds]
