Lyne Morgan was surprised when one of the people who boards a horse at her farm came running up the drive. “She said ‘there’s a llama in the street,’” Morgan said.
Morgan said she and some others chased the animal along Partnership Road. “There was a line of cars behind it,” Morgan said.
The chase ended when the Llama ducked out of sight. “It went into the woods across from the Kiplinger property,” Morgan said.
Llama sightings have been rather common this month. “He’s escaped a few times,” said Joanne Clements, daughter of the owners of Poole’s General Store on River Road.
Poole’s has feed for a variety of unusual animals and says that the animals are more common than some would expect. “There’s quite a few llamas in the area,” Clements said.
The llama in question seems unwilling to remain caged.
On June 1, Montgomery County Animal Control had reports of a llama in the area. “The owner was out looking for it, and he found it,” said Officer Carol Thomas of animal control.
The escape artist, which may not be the same llama, also found its way to R & F Stables in Poolesville.
“We were getting ready for our horse show and it was just walking down the road,” said Ross Fields, an owner of R & F.
He stated that the llama was in his front field so they closed the gate. “We were just going to contain it,” Fields said. The elusive ruminant was able to squeeze through the gates and continued on its way.
Eventually the beast found its way into the back fields and its owner came to claim it.
“When he got it, it spit on him,” said Mackenzie Fields, 7.
Ross Fields believes that the llama is escaping from a nearby kennel, and he estimates he has helped search for the animal three times in the past month. A representative of the kennels declined to comment.