Mid-way through the storm as the eye was about to pass over us, we once again peaked out to see if things were where they were suppose to be. Just as we looked out, another wind shear passed over us and ripped up the corner of the roof of the run-in shed. This sent 20 llamas, our whole herd of girls and juveniles running in an absolute panic in every direction. The whole time, poor KC (their guard llama) is screeching for his herd to get back to the barn. He did get them back quickly. But I have to admit, he was a lot more prepared to handle the situation than we were. We did know where the halters and leads were, that we had made sure of. But then what!? We were fortunate in that was the worst of our damage for them to deal with. The next day, as the sun came up, everyone came out of their respective shelter to find only a loss of a couple of trees, with no injuries.

The second event was to me, even more un-nerving. I was happily mowing down some old growth in a pasture that had been too wet to clear last season when I noticed my brother-in-law flying down our long driveway bottoming out his Volvo station wagon (you'd have to know him to appreciate this act) in a dip he knows about - towards our house. I had been so focused on not running over rocks or fallen limbs, that I had not noticed the black cloud moving over our woods, filling our previously clear sunny sky. It had been rather windy all day and I had put off burning because of it. It appears that was not so with one of my neighbors who was clearing some of his property getting it ready to build on. The fire was out of control. When I got to my house and shut the mower off, I could hear that terrifying crackling sound - FIRE - and it was coming our way.

I quickly looked around, my wonderful buddy and herd-sire over there, his girls over there, his kids in another spot and we won't even talk about the chickens, or dogs or even our home we had just moved in to. Who/what do you grab first? Where are all the leads and halters? Will little Annie allow me to halter her quickly this time, or will baby Jack finally load without taking the afternoon to decide it is safe and oh yeal, where is Ms F's medicine. Even then - my trailer will only take a few and again - then what - where?????

I admit it. We were not prepared. We had been told to get out but after doing a quick look-see, we decided not to leave the kids behind. The wind had started shifting and the fire was, fortunately for us, going the other way. Before it was over, 191 acres were burned. Several homes threatened, other livestock put in harms way, a volunteer fireman burned and some of their equipment lost. But we were richer for it. We had made a decision that we would not be put in that place again. I went to work the next day and with the advantage of working for our county sheriff, I started directly with him. Does the county have a plan? Who manages large animal rescue. I hit him with a hundred questions. His answer was to put me on the committee that is currently writing/preparing a plan. Come to find out the County Extension Agent sorta has one, the only problem is, no one knows what it is.

This article is not full of answers - only questions, I'm still trying to find the answers. My hope is by asking the questions and allowing you to see if YOU have a plan to work with, you might in turn ask the right questions of yourself and/or your local government before it is too late. Talk with your neighbors. Find out what if any plan they have and how you can work together. Who has trailers and if so, what size, what is the hookup need. Who has open pastures? What blanket permissions can be given in emergency situations for land or equipment use? Exchange contact information.

We share our lives with wonderful creatures that put their trust in us to provide for them. We work with them every day to build on this but when the chips are down, are you ready to pay up?

I have listed a few links you might want to visit to various agencies. This is not a saying that you will find all the answers there. This is only a start for you to work with. I am not endorsing any of them. I have not even had the time to read through all of them yet. But with spring and soon summer upon us and all the weather events to come, I wanted to share my thoughts and maybe hopefully help.

Take the time to visit, not necessarily only on the telephone, with your local fire/rescue squad. See what plan they have in place to help with large animal rescue. Most agencies are prepared to take in dogs or cats or even birds, but I found their 'plan' for large animals is to 'cut the fence and let em go.' Granted, this may be all there is time for, but if time allows, you owe it to yourself, to your animals, to be prepared. If you are not a member, consider joining. There are animal rescue teams throughout the country. Help put one together in your area. Be a part of the solution in developing a plan if need be, or making it come together if there is one to follow.

Dr. Anderson put out a notice recently for a large animal rescue training course. The time has passed for this scheduled one, but you might want to contact them, or have your local authorities contact them regarding future seminars. The link regarding it is: http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=15762

Some other links you might find of interest, or help guide you in developing a plan are:

1. Saving The Whole Family -
   The American Veterinary Medical Association Lots of links to disaster preparedness sites for pets and animals
   http://www.avma.org/disaster/safingfamily.asp
   
   
2. FEMA: Animals and Emergencies
   http://www.fema.gov/fema/anemer.shtm
   
   
3. Pets and Disaster: Be Prepared From the American Red Cross
   www.redcross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/animalsafety.html
   
   
4. Humane Society of the United Sates: Disaster Center
   http://www.hsus.org.ace/18730
   
   
5. Disaster Preparedness for Animals From the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies
   www.vfhs.org/resource/disaster.htm

Good luck and let's keep the hums amongst us - happy hums.

Nancy Blanchard
Spring Creek Farm
Palmyra, Virginia
happy_hummrs@yahoo.com