Eagle's Nest Graehawke

Graehawke was busy grazing and didn't notice the rest of the herd had moved on ... until I approached, pulling her attention away from her dining ... and then she abruptly realized she was ALONE. There's safety in numbers when you're a prey animal, so Graehawke takes immediate action to again be one of the many. At Graehawke's size and strength, I really don't think she has anything to worry about, but prey-animal instincts are one-size-fits-all.

Like her dad Gold'n Hawk, Graehawke is "coarse" and doesn't photograph well. Until she moves, that is. Then ... WOW!!! Power, revealed!

Graehawke always claims to be pregnant and then turns out not to be. A reproductive workup found nothing out of the ordinary. So ... in 6 weeks (plus or minus) ... maybe ... or not. Some llamas always look the part; two first-timers here have looked as un-pregnant as ever right up until the birth. Some not-pregnant females look pregnant, too. In other words, there's no telling by looking. Although I've been able to feel babies moving for several weeks to a month prior to birth, sometimes I haven't been able to detect anything at all. ********** Edit: She wasn't. Assuming she's agreeable (and no reason to think otherwise at this point), I'll try running her 24/7 with Credo for a couple of months in the spring of 2014. This is not ideal because monitoring a first birth will be difficult without a date of conception, and that first birth is the most risky. I'll spring for an for an ultrasound this time, and if the ultrasound is positive, I'll be short on sleep for the spring of 2015 ... There ARE other options beyond pasture breeding, but I'm not willing to pursue them, no matter how excellent the female (Graehawke is indeed in the exceptional category). When it takes that much unnatural effort and methods to get a female pregnant, not only are the odds against success (and in favor of completely draining one's bank account for nothing), but if an offspring results, the chances of getting an offspring with reproductive problems is unacceptably high.