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We may not all love
llamas, but there is no doubt that Diane White-Crane does. When she has Sammy
and Dudley by her side, her two lovely little llamas, you can bet she feel
pretty darn good.
"I spend an enormous
amount of time with them. All summer long I'm by myself with them in the Mt.
Zirkel Wilderness," the self-described "Llama Lady" said. "They're my buddies,
my companions, my protectors.
White-Crane,
Sammy and Dudley also make others feel good and for that reason she was back in
Steamboat this week with a film crew. She was being filmed for "Pet Story" - a
new show on Animal Planet that explores owner-pet
relationships.
The catch is
not that White-Crane has Sammy and Dudley, but what she does with them.
White-Crane sings and tells stories about tolerance, getting along and respect,
taking Sammy and Dudley with her in the summer.
She is the
author of "Stop Spitting at Your Brother! Life Lessons of a Rocky Mountain
Llama," a story narrated by the somewhat mischievous llama Dudley who makes a
few mistakes but learns some good lessons. Two years ago she released "Songs
for Llama Lovers - Young and Old."
I think because
of the message I'm getting some help," she said, "If I tried to set this up it
wouldn't have happened."
This project
just fell into White-Crane's lap. She became friends with a woman in Washington
state who was completing her web site, who was also a llama-lover and was being
filmed for the show. She told the producer about White-Crane and they were
interested. It took some time for it all to come together, mainly because of
the unpredictable Colorado weather.
"I gave up a
few times. I said it's not going to happen," she
said.
A few weeks
ago, she got a call in Maryland, where she lives in the winter, telling her
that filming would happen this week. She packed up her stuff and got on the
road to Steamboat Springs. She made a little detour to Hayden, where Sammy and
Dudley live in the winter, on Jan and Mary Anne Duffey's Rainbow Ranch. They
knew something was up.
"They said 'Hey
this isn't in our contract. We don't go to work in April. We're supposed to go
to work in June,'" White-Crane said.
"Pet Story" is
supposed to capture the relationship between owner and pet, and directory Cyndi
Haas said the show will include all kinds of animals, from dogs to pigs to
cows. But it's not that they wanted an interesting animal; they wanted an
interesting dynamic.
"Diane's story
is kind of interesting because it's unusual," Haas said. "Why those two llamas?
Why did they do it for her?"
Hass and a crew
spent three days filming hours and hours of film that will be condensed into a
30-minute show. White-Crane and her buds were filmed going up Spring Creek,
performing at the Christian Heritage School, roaming around off the Beaten Path
and then in Clark, where White-Crane's books take place. Haas said that while
White-Crane is interviewed, the focus is also on the pets. As White-Crane,
would attest, these llamas are special.
"If you saw
what we put these llamas through. They were cool as a cucumber. Sammy's
complained a bit," she said.
White-Crane
knows that not any llamas would sign up for this gig, but to answer Haas'
question of why these llamas, she has no clear answer. White-Crane first met
Dudley's grandfather, who was also a Dudley. The second Dudley was just a babe
when she took him under her wing and she put him on the cover of the book,
hoping he would grow into his picture.
These are
mellow llamas who are curious and fascinated. They can get testy, as llamas
can, but they are just as fascinated by children as children are fascinated by
them, she said.
"They trust me
I'm not going to do something that's going to cause them harm," she
said.
"Dudley and
Sammy represent llamas," she said. "The joy that is
llamas."
The show will
debut in July on Animal Planet, although no specific date is set. Check out
www.llamalady.com for the date. |
