Gizmo, Llama That Went Missing In Westchester County, Found Safe, Returned Home
BEDFORD CORNERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A llama that went missing in Westchester County is back home after 17 days.
At 5 feet tall and 300 pounds, you would think an animal like that would be easy to spot. But this llama proved to be elusive.
Diana Heimann rescued "Gizmo" and another llama earlier this month to live on a private 90-acre horse farm in Bedford Corners. The fences, as it turns out, were not high enough to hold the nervous new llamas.
"Two days after they arrived they jumped a fence. One of them we lassoed and brought back," Heimann told CBS2's Nick Caloway.
Watch Nick Caloway's report --
Gizmo was on the run for more than two weeks.
"Last seen, Guard Hill and West Patent in Bedford Corners, and he could well have traveled like 15 miles in any direction, easily," Heimann said.
Local animal rescue groups joined the search effort, and volunteers helped to put up posters.
"I feel bad. It's freezing outside and we had that snowstorm. So I feel really bad. Hopefully, we can find him," said Brittney Stockert of White Plains.
Caloway was told llamas are used to the cold and can forage for food.
Drones with thermal imaging technology even joined the effort to track down Gizmo.
Wednesday evening, the Buddha Dog Rescue & Recovery posted on Facebook that Gizmo had been safely captured.
According to the organization, a maintenance crew on a local farm called Heimann and said Gizmo had been on that farm property, which is less than a mile away from where Gizmo escaped. The crew thought Gizmo belonged on the farm and didn't realize otherwise until they saw a missing poster.
Heimann and one of her workers went to the farm and were able to lasso Gizmo and bring him back home.
CBS2's Nick Caloway contributed to this report
MORE FROM CBS NEW YORK
- New Yorkers Frustrated As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Blocks Vote On $2,000 Stimulus Checks: 'They Are Being Cheap'
- Black Teenager Falsely Accused Of Stealing Cellphone At New York City Hotel Speaks Out: 'I'm Still Kind Of Shellshocked'
- Squirrel-Mania! Queens Residents Describe In Graphic Detail Being Attacked By Crazed Rodents
