Llama jumps electric fence to protect ducks from bear

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Police in New Hampshire responded to a golf course to wrangle a llama that escaped from its nearby home to protect a family of ducks from a bear.

Jackson Police said the llama, named Noir, was captured by officers Monday on the sixth fairway of the Eagle Mountain Golf Course, WGME reported.

The llama, belonging to local man Russ Miller, jumped over the electric fence surrounding its enclosure and ran to the golf course, which is about 3 miles away by road and 2 miles running through the woods. Police said it previously escaped and was captured on the golf course in June, when it appeared in photos with Police Chief Chris Perley.

Perley said Noir has been jumping the fence for good reason.

"Noir has a flock of ducks that he watches over, and a bear has taken a taste for duck eggs and duck. The bear came calling, and Noir jumped over the [electric] fence and chased after it," Perley told the Conway Daily Sun.

"All of a sudden, we started getting all these calls from golfers saying there was a llama in the middle of the [nine-hole] course, and he didn't have a tee time," Perley said. "One couple from Florida said the only thing they'd seen on courses down there were crocodiles. This was their first llama, so it made their day."

Perley and officer Ryan McDonald responded to the golf course to capture the llama Monday.

"Noir was just starting to move between the fairway and a big patch of bushes when Ryan sprang into action, and ran in and grabbed as much llama as he could," Perley said. "Half the battle is to catch a llama; the other half is to get him home."

Perley fashioned a harness out of some rope and had Noir walk behind a police pick-up truck traveling at "parade speed" while the chief held the other end of the rope in the bed of the vehicle. Miller met them partway through the trip with a flatbed trailer to take Noir the rest of the way home.

"The owner stayed on the trailer with him, and I drove his pickup," the chief said.

He said Miller is planning to make the electric fence around Noir's enclosure a little higher to prevent future escapes, and authorities are working to take over the llama's self-appointed duties as guardian of the ducks.

"We connected the owner with the state [bear] biologists, who have the resources to mitigate the bear problem," Perley said.

Perely said he and the llama have bonded in their two encounters.

"I don't have a lot of widespread llama experience, but Noir, with those big brown eyes, sure seems fond of me. He kept rubbing up on me, and kind of made a purring sound," he said. "I think we have a real connection."