Charlie, the llama, makes himself at home inside the Bothell home of Jerry and Sandy Stillwell. Charlie is also known to make appearances at the Franciscan Care Center, a Bothell nursing home.

BOTHELL - Charlie, a curious cheek-smooching llama, seems as comfortable in Sandy Stillwell's living room as he does munching hay in the barn.

In fact, after seeing Charlie stroll through the dining room and casually traipse down the hall to the office, it seems almost natural to see the brown and white (housebroken) llama roam around Stillwell's house ---almost.

"Charlie is one of them that likes to come into the house, He's been doing it for years," the Bothell woman said.

Charlie's first adventure into the house came by accident. He wandered in from the back yard through an open sliding glass door. The lovable llama walked in, looked around and left the same way he came in, Stillwell said.

"His favorite thing to do is look at himself in the mirror: He loves it," she said.

Charlie, with those big brown eyes, perky ears and petite nose, recently had a chance to ham it up for a Seattle Television Crew. The llama was selected for a new television program, "Pet Story," shown on the Pennsylvania-based Animal Planet Network. Charlie's half-hour television debut - "Llama Llove" - will air mid-summer.

The filming experience was fun and the crew fell in love with Charlie, Stillwell said. Sandy and her husband, Jerry, are hopeful that the documentary will educate viewers about the increasingly popular pet. Washington and Oregon boast the largest llama populations in the United States. And two animated movies starring llamas are set to be released this summer. Stillwell predicts that llama sales will increase with the exposure.

"Our concern is that llamas have completely different personalities than livestock," Stillwell said. "We don't want people buying Llamas if they don't know (their) needs. We're trying to educate people."

Llamas, according to Stillwell, are curious and graceful animals. But unlike other domesticated pets, they are herd animals and need one or more companions.

"They're inexpensive and easy to take care of but shouldn't be treated like horses," she said.

Stillwell, a former motivational speaker, traded in her business suite for jeans and T-shirts about six years ago and now spends her time tending her seven llamas and designing Web sites for llama ranches around the world.

"My daughters thought I'd lost my marbles," she said. "But I seem to have a natural knack with them."

Stillwell also said she's met some great friends who share her common love for llamas. For several years, Stillwell has belonged to the Llama Mmamas - a chat room group - where she's met "the best women friends" she has ever had.

It's opened up a whole new world for us," she said.

The Stillwells moved from Northern California about seven years ago, when Jerry inherited his father house and property in Bothell.

"We didn't know what a llama was," Jerry said.

The Stillwells bought their first llamas, Paco and Pedro, after reading an article in Sunset magazine and talking to a rancher on Whidbey Island.

The couple wanted a "natural lawnmower" to maintain their newly acquired pastures and they found the perfect solution: llamas.

"They have pads on their feet so they don't tear up the pasture. They also use a communal dung pile and there's very little smell," Stillwell said.

Charlie came to the couple as a baby about five years ago. He was their fourth llama and how appears to be the star of their herd - and a popular visitor at a local nursing home.

Charlie's television debut captured his first visit to the Franciscan Nursing Home, where he was greeted with giggles and hugs from the elderly residents. Charlie, imparting kisses, quickly became the center of attention and even maneuvered his way into the residents' rooms.

"There's something intuitive about him," Stillwell said. "He acted like he'd done it a thousand times."

"The llama seemed to have a sense of where he was needed. I think some animals just have a sense about them. They just know when you need a little extra TLC," said Kara Jense, the facility's activities coordinator.

Animals are often used for therapy for the elderly and disabled but Charlie was quite a change from the dogs and cats that visit the Franciscan residents, Stillwell said.

"Charlie was definitely a bigger hit," Jensen said. "Oh, faces lit up and he really had an impact on the residents in their rooms."

One resident "popped off her bed like a teenager" to give Charlie a big hug, Stillwell said.

"It was a neat feeling to see people, who may not even be visited, with a smile on their faces," Stillwell said. "They just lit up."

And Several days later, when the Stillwells returned to the facility, they were surprised to discover that the residents were still talking about the beloved llama's visit.

"Somehow these people related to him," Stillwell said. "It was amazing. He'll be going back."

For more information on Charlie visit http://www.charliethellama.com or http://www.eskimo.com/~wallama/

Photos by Jane Freeman-
Northshore Citizen