Gold'n Hawk

Classic llama stud b. 03.23.1996 I met this guy when he was about 3 years old and purchased a breeding to him a year later. I count myself extremely fortunate to have acquired him and his friendship in August of this year (2009). Hawk is enjoying the many diverse new things we're doing together — packing, exploring, and ground driving (a prerequisite to being driven in harness later).

Classic llama stud b. 03.23.1996 I met this guy when he was about 3 years old and purchased a breeding to him a year later. I count myself extremely fortunate to have acquired him and his friendship in August of this year (2009). Hawk is enjoying the many diverse new things we're doing together — packing, exploring, and ground driving (a prerequisite to being driven in harness later).

All packed up and somewhere to go ... Hawk, tied to Rangervan, just before leaving with me on the Master's level course. Happy Hummers 2010 PLTA pack trial outside of Burns, Oregon.

3.23.1996 - 12.9.2010 Photo 9.21.2009, standing casually next to the " Ranger Dusty Memorial Dusting Hole" (any gravesite is immediately converted to a llama rolling and dusting hole, whether I like it or not). Hawk was a thoughtful, sensible fellow — the only male llama I could bear to put in Dusty's pasture (I did have three of Dusty's daughters running in there for awhile — they're the ones who "honored" their father by creating the dusting hole). Although ancient in "dog-think" (totally wrong for llamas), Hawk was actually a young llama at age 13 when he arrived in 2009, and there was no reason not to expect at least a decade of good times together. Expectations invariably lead to disappointment. Hawk was intermittantly uncomfortable the day before Thanksgiving. The discomfort altered to what appeared to be an intestinal blockage, and he was treated accordingly, complete with the necessary wait of several days for the treatments to slowly take effect. When it became apparent that the usual outcome was not occurring, all agreed this was no ordinary intestinal blockage, if it was a blockage at all, and Hawk was taken to OSU-VTH for diagnosis and possible treatment. Hawk did remarkably well through diagnostics and a surgery, and had shown promising improvement after a transfusion to raise his protein levels, but his intestines had already sustained severe damage from an unknown chronic condition (discovered during the surgery) and it finally became clear that his intestinal tract was no longer able to extract proteins and other nutrients essential for life — his condition was terminal. I went up to OSU on Thursday, December 9 to be with him as he was released from his increasingly painful earthly body. I did not take many photos of Hawk because, bluntly, he was not photogenic at all. "Rugged" puts a positive spin on it, but "coarse" is how any animal breeder would have honestly described him. Long ago I learned that looks, certainly inescapably compelling, are ultimately immaterial. Hawk's prowess on the trail, his willingness to trust and work with humans and give them the benefit of the doubt, and his cheerful, positive demeanor to the very end were priceless. Although Hawk and I never had the time to develop a truly personal relationship, let alone a deep one as I experienced with Dusty, I am feeling his loss — and the loss of his potential — severely.