09 Aug 2007
Rasta Llama - R.I.P.

Well, we lost Rasta tonight. I noticed him sitting by the water tank when I came home (about 5:30), but he was erect and chewing the cud, so I didn't think much of it. The goats got out (again) and I had some fence to fix, and by the time I noticed Rasta on his side about 8:30 it was way too late. He died a few minutes later.

He looked bloated, but bloat is rare in llamas, so I strongly suspect that he was either obstructed, or got into something poisonous. There's not going to be an autopsy, so we may never know for sure, but I'd sure be interested in hearing from anybody who knows anything about llamas as to the possibility of "bad weeds". I work hard at keeping the pasture healthy, and if something out there is deadly for one critter, you can bet it'd hurt the others, too. I'd like to find it before it does: if it's even out there.

It's been miserably hot here, and we've had no rain to speak of for several weeks. Simple heat exhaustion is a definite possibility, along with age: I have no idea how old Rasta was. He was at least five, because we got him four years ago. Today. Pretty strange, eh?

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