Bi2-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 9, 1991
Wakefield Valley Boasts A Bit Of Peruvian Andes
Barbara Floreen puts her small farm to good use by raising llamas that have a lifes
pan of 30 to 40 years.
SHARON B. SCHUSTER
Maryland Correspondent
NEW WINDSOR, Md.
There is a little bit of the Peruvian
Andes in the fertile Wakefield
Valley near New Windsor, Mary
land. Barbara Floreen raises her
llamas on a small farm that she
and daughter, Noelle, share with a
menagerie of animal companions.
For the past two years, Barbara
Floreen has been learning about
llamas the hard way she just
jumped right in and started from
scratch
“We had just bought the proper
ty,” explained Barbara. A friend
inquired, “What are you going to
do with five acres?” Barbara’s re
ply was, “We’ll put it to work for
us.”
She said that someone suggest
ed that they buy a pair of llamas to
raise on the pasture ground. “So
we did,” she exclaimed.
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Llamas have a lifespan of 30 to
40 years, and Barbara Florccn
seems to be in this endeavor for
the long haul. “I have become
very attached to them,” she said.
Barbara admitted that she knew
nothing about raising these cou
sins to the camel, and learned by
doing. “We’re taking it one step at
a time.”
She quickcly learned the type of
fence needed, preferred foods, and
general care through working with
the animals on a day to day basis.
The loafing shed where the ani
mals stay within the fenced pas
ture has a raised floor, “to keep
their feet dry. They have a flat foot
like a camel for walking on the de
sert,” explained Barbara. She add
ed that the worst chore is keeping
their nails clipped. She recruits the
neighborhood kids to help hold
the llamas while the chore is com
pleted. “We are hoping we can in
tercst the Appalachian trail park
system in llamas, because llamas
feet don’t break down the soil like
a shod horse.”
One look at llamas would con
vince those unfamiliar with them
that they are fence jumpers. Up to
the lip of their banana-shaped
ears, they stand six feet or taller.
“They go under,” explained
Barbara. “They become liquid.
That long neck goes under the bot
tom rail of the fence, and then the
body rolls over. Rred wiggled out
of there slick as a whistle.”
Rred, Honey, and Fawn, so
named for their coloring, arc an
interesting family. They exhibit a
naturally curious character, parti
cularly Fawn, just a baby at eight
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months old. Her parents are a bit
more cautious, preferring to exa
mine visitors from a distance.
“They are not quite as evil
tempered as camels,” commented
Barbara. “They don’t bite, and
their breath doesn’t smell as bad.”
She speaks from experience. It
seems that llamas show their dis
pleasure by spitting.
“They have four stomachs, and
when it comes out of the third or
fourth stomach, it will take you to
your knees.”
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LLamas succumb to loneliness If not raised with others
The llamas don’t reserve spit
ting for outsiders, they also spit at
each other. "Honey gave Rred a
mouthful this morning,” she said
with a laugh.
“They arc very communal ani
mals,” said Barbara. “One will
eventually succumb to loneli
ness.” She said that the llamas
have no natural enemies, although
people and dogs pose the greatest
threats. When a strange dog enter
ed their pasture, Barbara said she
(Turn to Page B 13)
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717-656-8380
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