Last year one of our llamas, Udokan, was tied down and shorn. It was an experience never to be repeated. His trust was replaced with mistrust and it has taken a year to nearly gain his confidence. So this year a young man who has 5 llamas which he uses for trekking came to shear the two llamas. His approach is to shear them standing and as expected, the younger one, Donnegal (on the right below), was very placid and stood relatively still. However when it was Udo's turn, there was much kicking and moving sideways. Slowly Steve gained his confidence and with a little more restraint, the task was completed without injury to shearer or animal. See below 'before' appearance.
Both the boys have brownish saddles, but when this area is shorn both are bitumen grey. The neck hair is left as the males feel extremely exposed without their glorious manes. The saddle and part of the way down the legs are removed and it only takes a couple of months for the overall appearance to once again be brown. It must be a great relief to have 20cm of hair removed and I am sure it is much cooler in summer. See 'after' below with short saddles.
Steve also measured the boys up for packing saddles, so the next adventure will be to train them to take the backpacks when we go for walks.
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