L'illy Llamas of VeeVeeVille
Thanks for stopping by!
Once upon a time, a little girl must have had a good experience at a petting zoo... or maybe she saw a llama somewhere, or found one in a story book. Then, not so many years ago, when some unexpected money found its way to her, she dumped her plans to go to Ireland and instead bought her first breeding pair of llamas.
Go figure!
L'illy Llamas was created in January 2000 in north Texas. In August 2003, the little ranchito--9 llamas, 7 cats and 1 big ol' dog--and the proverbial "lock, stock and barrel" relocated to Longmont, near Boulder CO. Texas is lovely, but the temps and humidity are really hard on llamas. The foothills of the Rocky Mountains, though... well, that's pretty nice!
The number of llamas has certainly increased in the past few years, especially with the ever increasing llama rescue activities. Additionally, I've done a little very selective breeding. Then there are the inevitable "gotta have it" additions to the herd.
Life is good... really, really good!
So thanks for dropping by. Hope you enjoy this little world as much as I do!
L'illette
L’illette Vasquez
L'illy Llamas of VeeVeeVille
at Rocky Mountain Llamas
SWLR/SELR Llama Rescues,
Colorado Coordinator
RMLA Rescue Committee,
Chairperson
National Lama IRC Council,
Rocky Mt. Area Coordinator
303.747.3809 home/office
775.256.4860 fax
lillette@veevee.com
APR 08
Winter to spring
The picture above was actually taken during the crazy winter of 2006-2007. But I like the icy trees and seeing my boys just hanging out. From my house and my usual routes around the farm, I don't really get to watch them much. I hear them, of course! It's a bachelor herd with a mix of intact and gelded males. They can get pretty rowdy. :)
Winter 2007-2008 has been quite busy for llama rescue. Lots of calls for assistance, rescue and rehoming (finding homes without putting the llamas into the rescue system). A few individual llamas came through, but also a couple of herds and several groups of three or more. Fortunately, with the advent of spring, Southwest Llama Rescue, Inc. (SWLR) adoptions are looking up, and hopefully there will be more foster homes coming into the family.
SWLR has a grant challenge: for every dollar they receive, a trust will donate an equal amount up to a total of $4500. That will feed all our sanctuary llamas for a full year. Which leaves other funds for the ones that are in foster care or those who've yet to join us. Want to help? Go the SWLR Grant Challenge page for info.
It's show season, too. And that means grooming... Oh oh! Since I have a number of medium- and heavy-wooled llamas, preparing for shows is quite time-consuming. Worth the effort, though, to see rather bedraggled winter appearances transform into great examples of llama beauty.
And training! Why didn't I start this earlier, too?! Well, it's the same question I ask myself each year that I have youngsters. You'd think I'd learn! <g>
Important Stuff
(links not yet active)
About L'illette
Though I haven't been into llamas nearly so long as many of the people
now in my world, my passion has grown exponentially over the past
relatively few years.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have landed in the company of people like my mentor and friend, Bobra Goldsmith, and with the incredible folks of SWLR and SELR; and with the many, many llama owners, breeders and trainers across the country I've been privileged to meet.
Every morning, I wake up and marvel at my good fortune. May you find such happiness and fulfillment in your own life!
Thinking about getting llamas?
Whether you're going to be a first-time llama owner or will be adding to your herd, you can find a lot of good info on the Web. But you can also find a lot of... not so good info. Always wise to use your own common sense!
Check the Links page for some of my favorite sites. (coming soon!)
The Southwest Llama Rescue Inc. (SWLR) and Southeast Llama Rescue (SELR) websites also have good articles.
SWLR and SELR are always in need of new foster homes. Interested? Go to the websites, and contact the coordinator for your area.