Yet again I’m violating that old dictum of “Don’t change horses in midstream”. But this time I’m changing to a llama! Specifically, to Caesar “The No Drama Llama” McCool, owned by Larry McCool of Jefferson Oregon.
(I just read about Caesar right after lunch – so I threw this together in a hurry. But trust me – this story has a lot more panache than what I had ready to go. But I’ll foist that on you another time.)
What makes Caesar so unique is his unusual demeanor for a llama, which are usually solitary animals and not all that fond of humans. But Caesar is loving and relishes interacting with people to the point he’s actually become a “llama therapist”.
Caesar is a 6-year-old Argentine grand champion show llama who lives at McCool’s Mystic Llama farm. Before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the BLM protests, Caesar was busy offering emotional support and hugs (he actually nuzzles back when he gets a hug “It’s all I can do to keep him from snuggling” McCool claims) to retirement centers, foster homes and schools.
But for the past several months McCool has brought him to Black Lives Matter marches at least ten times, including five in Portland (which is 75 miles from Jefferson) to help with emotional support.
McCool says Caesar is actually a “llamactivist” who’s been busy with social and charity events, and has participated in more than 50 marches over the years for various social justice and environmental issues.
It was this impressive résumé that inspired McCool to bring him to the Portland protests as a calming influence for both the protestors and police. And Caesar’s been a wildly popular success with all parties!
At 5′-8″ and 350 pounds, you would think Caesar might be intimidating. But people line up to pet his soft wool and give him a hug – and his calm demeanor just rubs off on folks.
McCool says that he’s very careful to monitor the situation, and the minute he sees or senses events getting too rambunctious, he and Caesar more to a safe zone.
Caesar may not be able to talk, but he can sense the vibe of his surroundings. McCool reports that on June 9th when 5,000 people laid down on the Burnside Bridge in Portland for 8 minutes 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd, Caesar was right there and stood stock-still for 9 minutes. He was able to grasp the gravity of the moment.
And Caesar travels in style. He has his own trailer with two inches of foam padding to protect and keep him comfortable and safe. And we’re thankful for that.
After all, McCool shares that he’s seen huge, muscular protestors in makeshift body armor come up and give Caesar a hug for over a minute with tears streaming down their faces. Then turning to McCool say “Man, did I need that!”
“Maybe they’re going to have a better day because of a llama hug. Who would have thought a llama could bring this much joy?”
Pretty sure ALL sides can give Larry McCool and Caesar a huge “THANK YOU!” hug for a job well done!
SOURCES:
https://www.insider.com/caesar-the-no-drama-llama-keeping-peace-portland-protests-2020-8
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/08/07/us/07reuters-global-race-protests-llama.html
