In your photo gallery, you picture a llama guarding sheep (HCN, 3/31/03: Springtime on the ranch). I have to offer an alternative suggestion! All you cowmen and especially sheepmen, facing losses from coyotes, consider placing a solitary burro in your flock or herd. Burros cost about one-tenth the price of a llama, if you were to adopt one from the Bureau of Land Management. Not only do you get a good guard animal, but you are also helping us keep our public rangelands healthier. That is, periodically BLM must round up the increasing burro populations where they compete with livestock and wildlife for precious forage.

For more info, go to www.blm.gov and click on the wild horse and burro icon.

Tom Taylor
Mesa, Arizona