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The Following Article was published in the International Camelid Quarterly - September 2004.
08-Aug-04
Angelwise Llamas
Jo-Anne Cooper
Whenever Jo-Anne is asked, ‘Why Llamas’? invariably her response is, ‘For the love of a horse’.
While living in Kingston, Ontario in 1990 Jo-Anne’s daughter earned an unborn foal as payment for working at on Arabian breeding farm. Consequently her maternal instincts were activated, forcing them to buy a farm in Lyndhurst. Jo-Anne immediately fell in love with rural living but soon realized that raising horses was out of her ‘greenhorn element’.
From Ontario they moved to Colorado, or as she refers to it, ‘Llama Land’. Llamas are everywhere. After a visit to a llama farm Jo-Anne decided these were the animals to fuel her passion and please her three vegetarian daughters.
An early retirement package and an adventurous move to beautiful Nova Scotia in 1995 set the llama life in motion and the rest as they say, is history.
From ‘Spirit of Jubilee’ to ‘Angelwise Llamas’ the journey has been a roller coaster ride of learning and loving. What began as a breeding farm has evolved into a concentration on fiber and recreational therapy for special needs persons.
Visitors to the farm are amazed by the llamas’ gentle dispositions. Each and every animal has a personality of its own making each of them unique and challenging. Everyday the farm brings with it new experiences and joys: From ‘White Juan’, the Snowstorm from H---, to a gate left open and a community llama round up, with stopped traffic while the critters amble home. From the first walk to the barn in the morning for feeding to checking the new crias, to repairing fences and hauling hay; one never knows what each day will bring.
Jo-Anne thoroughly enjoys the visitors who drop by. Whether a first time tourist or the summer folk who return again and again - their reactions to the animals are always entertaining and heartwarming. She often receives calls from persons needing a ‘llama fix’.
Being located in cottage country, a trip to the farm with guests is a regular occurrence, each remembering a cria or special animal from the previous summer. Being located in a high-traffic tourist area provides opportunity to welcome visitors from all over the world. This works well for Jo-Anne as she is always happy to share her fuzzy friends and educate people in the ‘Ways of the Llama’.
She considers herself fortunate indeed to be blessed with a very supportive veterinarian team at ‘Annapolis Animal Hospital’ and wonderful neighbours and friends in East Dalhousie, a quaint community in the heart of Nova Scotia between Bridgewater on the south shore, near the Atlantic Ocean and New Minas on the Bay of Fundy Shore.
She does find operating the farm on her own overwhelming on occasion, but a trip to the barn or field puts everything back in perspective and reaffirms it is all worthwhile.
The rovings and yarn produced in Kingsburg, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are sold before they return from the mill. Spinning and weaving have made such a comeback that it is difficult to keep up with the demand.
Her latest venture was to attend a ‘Marty Magee’ clinic at the Porters’. Not only were Marty and Brad a delight but the hospitality was without question, superb. Jo-Anne knows she and her animals benefited from all she learned at the clinic and is certain her clients will as well. She firmly recommends the clinic for handlers and veterinarians alike.
With forty-two llamas, Henri the ‘PR’ Alpaca, Spirit (the horse is still here, the daughter isn’t), angora goats, rabbits, cats, and George the yellow lab, there is something for everyone.
These gentle intuitive creatures have changed her life. At Angelwise, 'once you have been kissed by a llama, you will never be the same'.
Jo-Anne Cooper
161 East Dalhousie Road
Springfield, Nova Scotia
B0R 1H0
902-547-2001
