It’s the stuff of a llama owner’s nightmare: waking from a sound nap only to hear a bear mauling your llama just outside the window. This nightmare became reality for Lydia Chiappini Sunday evening on her farm in Blairstown Township, New Jersey when one of her ten llamas, Gus, was attacked by a bruin.
“I thought he might have been wrestling with another llama because they make the same noise, you know?” But as the noise continued she realized something was wrong. She went outside to find a bear with Gus’s head in its mouth! Her first response was to scream at the bear. “I figured that was the end of it because they’re supposed to be afraid of people,” she told news sources.
It wasn’t. The bear continued its attack. Chiappini ran inside and called 911. When she returned to the yard she found the bear chasing Gus.
Chiappini grabbed Gus (reports don’t state how she grabbed Gus, maybe a halter? I don’t know. I don’t keep llamas) and yelled at the bear, “Get out of here!” Chiappini admitted later that this probably wasn’t the best move on her part. “It was probably kind of stupid,” she said, “but they’re like your kids, you know? (Again, I don’t know because I don’t keep llamas.)”
When the police arrived a moment later they found Chiappini covered in blood. They yelled “You’re covered in blood! Whose blood is that?” After Chiappini explained that she was covered in llama blood, police turned their attention to the bear that had retreated into the darkness. The bear charged police leaving them no choice but to shoot it dead.
Chiappini approached the downed bear to exact revenge. “I had a hissy fit and kicked the bear in the head,” Chiappini said. “And broke my toe.”
Gus was given veterinary care and prescribed antibiotics.
What do you think OL readers, would you risk life and limb to save your beloved llama?