By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger Thanks to a conscientious ranger, a spotted llama's harrowing sojourn, which began the summer of 2017 when she presumably wandered off a local llama farm and into Bobcat Ridge Natural Areas Open Space, is over. Dottie was recently relocated to a New Mexico animal sanctuary where she can live out the rest of her llama life, drama-free. See also: The lost llama of Loveland: an update and Lost llama running around Loveland area After surviving six months of solitude on the 2,607 acre natural area ---llamas are herd animals and very social, by nature-- Dottie entered the corral adjacent to the ranger's home on her own initiative. This was not an arbitrary turn of events. "We were trying to get her to get used to coming to a specific location, with the intent to try and capture her there," explains Fort Collins Natural Areas & Trails Ranger, Karl Manderbach. Although the parking lot area has a webcam for visitors to monitor parking conditions, he set up a separate wildlife camera overlooking hay bales that he placed, hoping she would start feeding off of them. 
Eventually Dottie was not only feeding off the bales but she was eating hay out of Manderbach's hand. Still skittish, she would run off before he had a chance to coax her into the nearby corral. Undeterred, he continued to monitor her activities and build trust by feeding her. Then one morning he entered his office and saw she was down in the parking lot. "I shook the grains so she could hear me and she walked right into the corral," explains Manderbach. The corral was part of the working cattle ranch before the area became open space but the history of the land's inhabitants go further back. There is evidence that the Ute and Arapahoe wintered on the land and lived off Bison. Then the pioneers and homesteaders came and farmed cattle. The natural area opened to the public in fall of 2006, however, as far as anyone knows, this is the first llama it has hosted. Native to the South American Andes, llamas are relative newcomers to North America, after the presumed migration of the original camelid to Asia across the Bering Strait. In the 1900s William Randolph Hearst imported Llamas to populate San Simeon in California because they were "exotic." According to the New York Times "Ambassador llamas" are sometimes used as therapy animals to visit sick, elderly and disabled. In Colorado they are used as trail animals and sometimes their fleeces are sheared and used as wool for clothing. 
The original owner never came forward, however neighboring llama owners recognized and confirmed that her name was Dottie and that prior to her Bobcat Ridge Open Space sojourn she had been the property of a person that no one was willing to identify. This leaves one to infer that, most likely, Dottie had been deliberately abandoned by that person. After securing Dottie in the corral, local llama farmers and animal sanctuary owners who initially expressed interest in adopting her had lost interest in the prospect. Buckhorn Llama Company owner, Stan Eble, however, "graciously took her for a couple days. State Parks and Wildlife then took her until she ultimately found her new home" explained Manderbach. That is how she finally ended up at an animal sanctuary in New Mexico. When The Denver Private Investigator Blog initially covered the story, we offered to feature any Colorado private investigator who could figure out who Dottie belonged to. This never occurred, however, thanks to the dedicated Bobcat Ridge Natural Area team Dottie was rescued, regardless. Private investigators are frequently called upon to solve missing person cases or help adoptees reunite with their birth parents. PIs can also provide surveillance services that involve placing stationary cameras in locations that a person of interest is likely to go. Although Karl Manderbach is not a private investigator and Dottie is not a "person" we feel it is appropriate to feature the City of Fort Collins' Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, regardless. You can learn more about Bobcat Ridge on the video we've embedded at the end of the article along with driving directions so you can plan your visit! Bobcat Ridge's address is 10184 West County Road 32C, Loveland. From Fort Collins, take Harmony Road west, it turns into CR 38 E. Follow CR 38 E to Masonville. Go left (south) at the Masonville Mercantile onto CR 27. Follow CR 27 about 1 mile to CR 32 C, head west about 1 mile to the Bobcat Ridge parking lot. From Loveland, go west on Highway 34 about 4.5 miles west of Wilson Avenue. Turn north on CR 27 by Big Thompson Elementary and drive 4.5 miles. Turn left on CR 32C and go 1 mile west to the Bobcat Ridge parking lot. Note: The parking lot often fills to capacity on weekends and holidays. If the lot is full, please come back another time (no parking on the road). Horse trailer parking is limited to 8 spots. Check the camera below before you go! Additional Bobcat Ridge references used: www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/pdf/bobcat-historical-record.pdf?1229709981 https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/pdf/bobcat-history-booklet.pdf?1244573528
By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger According to Dave Irwin of theCity of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department, the owner of the lost llama of Loveland --that llama who spent the last three months wandering around Mahoney Park and the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area northwest of Loveland--- was found. One would naturally conclude that the owner was relieved to learn the llama is still alive and eager to bring her home again however this was not the case. Irwin was unwilling to detail why the owner wouldn't take the llama back during our brief phone conversation ---he seemed, in fact, reluctant to say anything that could disclose the identity of the llama's original owner--- but he shared the good news that a local area landowner had informed him who llama's original owner was and was also helping to coordinate with other area llama breeders and other nearby landowners so the llama will soon have a home again. The City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department still has the challenge of capturing and moving the llama --which been referred to by other media as a "bad tempered llama"--- ahead of them. It is not an enviable task, however with the community and park authorities working together it seems that this is doable. This news clip from a few years ago shows just how difficult capturing llamas can be. And apparently llamas really are a thing in Colorado's mountaineering and adventure resort industry as they are assist in hauling gear and bags on rigorous mountaineering trips. It is not yet known how useful they would be on surveillance assignments but if you decide you'd like to find out, please let us know.
By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger There is a spotted llama, anxiously wandering around Mahoney Park and the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area northwest of Loveland. It is believed to have wandered off a nearby ranch then gotten lost in the open space where it is now spooking horses and alienating any hikers who attempt to approach it. The Loveland Reporter-Herald's Sam Lounsberry characterized the llama as a "bad tempered" but sanguine and mild mannered are rarely traits of an animal that has spent three months wandering the open plains, trying to find its way home. If you or any of your private investigator colleagues manage to uncover any leads on who the llama's owner might be, contact 970-416-2147 so the park service can try to reunite them and then let us know so we can feature you in next month's post. 
New York's Prospect Park, by contrast, responds quickly to displaced animal reports. When a baby cow --believed to have escaped the Fourth Ave. and 16th street slaughterhouse -- was running around it was captured within days by the New York Police who shot it with a tranquilizer gun. The bull will be taken to Skylands Animal Sanctuary in Wantage, NJ, an official said."
A live video showed the creature standing in a soccer field, looking confused — as at least six officials closed in on him and four helicopters hovered overhead according to The New York Post.'The poor thing, he don’t know what to do — and neither do the cops! We need a cowboy, said neighbor Yvonne Felix, 42." If you want to continue following the adventures of this baby cow, fans have created a Prospect Park Cow Twitter account.
Not all those who wander are lost. The Japanese city of Nara is famous for it's Buddhist shrines and for its deer population. According to Washington Post reporter, Anna Fifield deer in Nara are recognized as the messenger of gods, so they walk everywhere at the Kasuga Grand shrine in Nara. 
 By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger My cat, Kee-hap, would make a great spy. She's adept in picking up communication subtleties and can hear cans and doors opening from anywhere inside the house. She sneaks up stealthily on birds, bugs and sometimes wild rabbits. Her red and orange tiger stripes will blend beautifully with the fall leaves as early autumn rolls through Colorado. Quick to endear herself to strangers Kee-hap has joined me for visits with friends in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C. She behaves well on busses and makes friends easily. She is a great car companion and has joined me on road trips through Arizona, Utah, California and New Mexico as well as in and around Colorado. In fact, Kee-hap has visited Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Castle Rock. She has yet to experience Boulder, Fort Collins, Steamboat Springs and Aspen but invites are always welcome! It is unlikely that the private investigator and security field will be a viable option for a cat needing to pass the state required juris prudence exam, however, the idea of a feline private investigator is not a new one. In fact there was a government sanctioned program to turn cats into spies in the 1960s.  This summer marked the 70th anniversary of Harry S Truman signing the National Security Act of 1947, which paved the way for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The agency's plan to turn cats into spies, among other things, was revisited by media for the anniversary and according to Time Magazine's Olivia B. Waxman, the CIA began the "Acoustic Kitty" experiment of trying to trick cats up with espionage gear in the 1960s. The plan was to place to place them in locations where they would gather information. According to "Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda. The Office of Research and Development figured out a way to implant a three-quarter-inch transmitter in the loose, fleshy part at the back of a cat's neck, and a microphone in the cat's ear canal. A very thin, almost invisible wire connected the two devices. The size of the transmitter meant the device could only hold very small batteries and only had space to record a limited amount of audio. (One attempted solution was to give a cat a transmitter in its rib cage and an antenna in its tail, the ex-CIA agent Victor Marchetti claimed in The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology.) The experiment fell short when agents got hungry the would wander away from the designated location. As a big part of the appeal was the fact that the would not have to be trained to stay focused once they knew which sounds to identify, the tendency to wander off site proved to be a deal breaker there was no way of communicating the goals and requirements of the mission to them. You can read more about the experience on Time.com and read the primary documents on the study, which were declassified in 2001, here. And if you are looking for a feline team member, Kee-hap is available for assignments, however, she can only be considered for assignments in those states that do not not require PIs be licensed. By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger Over the last week three local and national stories have found themselves on private investigator radars and heat maps. We've taken you to the International Spy Museum before but this week. The New York Times' Shivani Vora, however, just wrote about the museum's now flourishing golden age age of tourism due to the increased concerns over Russian intervention in United States politics. You can't not love Duncan Strauss' widely shared Washington Post story about full-time lost pet investigator, Jamie Katz enough. In the two-years since founding her business Katz has reunited 150 animals with their owners. You'll also find out about pioneer of pet investigation, Kat Albrecht who has trained hundred of pet investigator proteges. Last week's biggest hit new story may have actually been in our homegrown Denver Post. Chris Osher's story "Colorado's Pricey Polygraph Test discusses Colorado's use of the problematic polygraph test with sex offenders. Is this a fair game for law enforcement to play? Finally, with summer surveillance assignments round the corner, what could be more worth a trip to the hardware store than a cooler than a cooler tricked up to actually stay cool for a long period of time? This gem was brought to our attention by Joe LaSorsa of LaSorsa & Associates security group. No word yet on how long it'll actually keep your bottled water cool but we'd welcome your feedback. What we do know, for certain is that in 2017, Colorado had it's warmest March on record, according to the National Centers for Environment Information but ultimately it'll depend on where your surveillance assignment is. Summer days in Sedgwick and Las Animas will be exceptionally excruciating according to Colorado State's Colorado Extremes map so if surveillance is your specialty you may want to consider preparing multiple coolers for the regions' extreme heat. 
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Highly experienced team of Denver private investigators serving attorneys, businesses, and individuals. Our investigation services include, but are not limited to: process of service, responsible party identification, witness locates and interviews, workplace investigations, competitive intelligence, background investigations, surveillance investigations, fidelity investigations (infidelity), cheating spouses, aerial video, & more. Ross Investigators PC, Inc. proudly offers their PI services to: Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Broomfield, Castle Rock, Centennial, Cherry Creek, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Denver, Englewood, Fort Collins, Glendale, Golden, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland, Morrison, Northglenn, Parker, Pueblo, Superior, Thornton, Washington Park, and all of Colorado.
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