Carol (Ranck) Reigh ’76 says hi to PVL Chilean Next Generation by
putting her nose to his.
“That's how they say hello,” she says. “It's
their way of checking you out to
make sure you're not going to eat them
for dinner.” photos: Jennifer Post Stoudt
When Carol (Ranck) ’76 and Douglas ’83 Reigh purchased a 200-year-old farmhouse and barn in Birdsboro, Pa., on 104 acres, they had one horse and a lot of land for it to cover. That one horse just wasn’t making a dent in keeping the fields mowed, and the Reighs were tired of spending eight hours a week on lawncare. So Carol had an idea.
After learning from a friend that llamas are inexpensive and relatively easy animals to care for, the Reighs purchased four animals to solve their field and lawn maintenance problems. But as Carol got to know each animal she found herself wanting to spend more and more time with them. “They tend to win your heart,” she says. So, what initially began as lawncare quickly turned into a business.
Today, Buck Hollow Llamas, Inc. is home to 40 llamas with some of the strongest bloodlines in the country. “Llamas are really amazing animals,” Carol says. “They’re patient, gentle, curious, quiet, intelligent, calm, eager to please, concerned for others and trusting. Our lives have been transformed as a result of owning these wonderful animals.”
Doug is a periodontist with a practice in Flying Hills, Pa. However, in his off hours he helps out as the "gruntman" on the farm. "I couldn't do it without him," says Carol, a former English teacher. Carol now travels with her llamas to approximately eight to 10 shows per year from Virginia to Massachusetts to Nebraska. She also breeds her animals with the goal of selling approximately 10 llamas per year. Buck Hollow is a small breeding farm that concentrates on disposition and conformation in the breeding program, says Carol. “We spend time with our animals and pride ourselves in knowing each of their personalities.” Buck Hollow’s motto says it all – “Where people who enjoy llamas raise llamas who enjoy people.”
Carol also sells items such as feeding crates, stalling mats, grooming chutes and yarn and fiber, and teaches an adult education class about llamas through the Owen J. Roberts School District. “I may not have people knocking down my door to buy a llama, but I like where I am,” she says.
A wall in the Reigh’s barn, covered from top to bottom with ribbons, displays the success she’s had on the show circuit, but Carol says she doesn’t take the ribbons seriously. “One weekend you can be a Grand Champion and the next you can come in fifth place. We’re just there to have fun. That’s the point,” she says.
“Llamas are really amazing animals. They’re patient, gentle, curious, quiet, intelligent, calm, eager to please, concerned for others and trusting.”
– Carol (Ranck) Reigh ’76
And fun she does have. In addition to showing and breeding, Carol says, “There are a million things you can do with llamas.” Carol’s llamas have visited with patients in nursing homes, hosted birthday parties, campaigned at the polls and have even been in a television commercial. The commercial was for a book called Weird USA. “We went to New York, spent four hours taping and they used about 10 seconds of it. But it was fun,” she says.
Education, however, is something she takes very seriously. “One of my favorite things is helping the new owner learn to better care for their llamas and to inform the curious on-looker that llamas are not mean.”
Llamas are actually very social animals, she says, but they need more than human contact. They need another llama to have as a buddy, so Carol stresses to potential owners that they should purchase two. “We would all like to think that we as humans are all the companions a llama could ever possibly want, but it just is not so.”
While llamas are relatively easy to care for and require little in the way of medical attention, they can easily die of heat stress, so during hot weather, precautions must be taken. The best preventative measure, says Carol, is to make sure that they are sheared. “Shearing a llama is kind of like being fitted for a bathing suit,” she says. “There are different styles for different body types. You just have to figure out what works for the individual animal.”
In addition, and contrary to what many people think, llamas also need water. While the Encyclopedia Britannica claims that camelids do not need much water, Carol says they actually do drink about a gallon of cool water a day. “They can get moisture from grazing,” she says, “but that is not enough. They have to have fresh water daily.”
And although llamas have gained a reputation for spitting at people, this is a misconception, she says. While she notes that their spit is pretty slimy and disgusting, kind of greenish in color, and that she has been in the wrong place at the wrong time and been “slimed” before, she says they really just spit at each other and only when they’re really mad. “It’s the equivalent of humans having to throw up,” she says, “so it’s not something they like to do.” The perception that llamas spit at people arises from their being raised in petting zoos. When raised as part of a herd, spitting is reserved for other llamas, not people.
As she walks around her farm, cuddling and petting each of her “babies,” it’s obvious that she has grown attached to her herd, and makes it clear that she doesn’t sell to just anyone. “I would never sell to a person who I didn’t feel could give the animal equal or better care than I can give,” she says, as she kisses Chic, a one-month-old cria, on the nose.
“Life is good here at Buck Hollow,” Carol says. “God truly has blessed our lives.”
Chic is Always In is a
one-month-old cria.
Llama Facts
There are fewer than 120,000 llamas in North America.
They are classified as livestock and are members of the camelid family.
They come in a variety of colors: white, black, brown, grey, red and any combination of these colors.
Adult llamas weigh 250 to 450 pounds. They live for 20 to 25 years.
They have fiber which is of great value because it has a hollow shaft that makes it lighter and warmer than sheep’s wool.
Llama droppings are practically odorless, low in nitrogen and make excellent soil amendment.
Llamas are usually first bred at 18-24 months of age. Their gestation period averages 11 months. They usually birth during daylight hours and give birth to one cria (baby). Twins are very rare.
They are intelligent and very fast learners.
They are easy to raise, can be handled by anyone and are safe around children and seniors.
It is a misconception that llamas spit at people. This perception arises from their being raised in petting zoos. When raised as part of a herd, spitting is reserved for other llamas, not people.
They make four distinct sounds: they hum when they’re content or anxious; give an alarm call when guarding; make an orgle sound when breeding; and scream when fighting.