Alpaca Class
My mother was out here a few months ago donating her hard labour to help me keep my place under some sort of control and we had this conversation about the still-idle land across the street:
Mom: You mentioned alpacas a while ago.
Me: Oh, didn't I tell you? I looked into it, and alpacas are very expensive. No alpacas.
Mom: Alpacas are cute.
Me: [raises eyebrows]
Mom: What if I were to look at buying a few alpacas?
Me: Why would you want to do that?
Mom: (says) Alpacas are cute. (means) I would do anything, anything if only you never ask me to help you burn that hill again.
Me: Mom, I won't ask you to help me burn that hill again.
Mom: Good, good. But you have to do something, and alpacas are pretty cute!
Me: Hmm. Maybe life's too short not to have alpacas. I'll look into it some more.
(Why alpacas and not some other animal? They have pads, not hooves, so are much less damaging to the land than most other stock (we won't even talk about horses). I don't like sheep and don't know what I'd do with goats. Alpacas are hardy and there's a growing industry for the fleece.)
So I bought a book and made some inquiries about fencing and so on, and then saw an introductory workshop for potential alpaca owners advertised in the paper.
The venue was one of the state's most successful alpaca studs. My first thought on driving in was "There are a lot of alpacas here" (I'm used to seeing a few here and there, not hundreds in one place) and my second was "What beautiful, stunning, glorious fencing." Fortunately beautiful, stunning, glorious fencing is not required as I don't have any.
They divided us into groups and rotated us around four different presenters, all very personable alpaca breeders and three of the four former city professionals who'd decided they wanted a lifestyle change. First stop was a talk about how to get started in the industry (No. 1 piece of advice: Don't buy the first alpaca you fall in love with. Also on the list: don't buy a male unless you have plenty of work for him, or he'll go for you!). Behind us was a lush green irrigated paddock holding lactating females with approximately 6 month old young. Entertaining as the speaker was, my attention kept being diverted by the goings-on behind me. There was rolling in the leaves, there was playing, and best of all there were adults resting with the legs folded under the body, and the long neck stretched out along the ground. (I've tried to find a picture of this to no avail.)
The next speaker discussed conformation issues and wool quality, with some of the host stud's female alpacas in a small yard behind him. One in particular was very inquisitive and kept leaning over the fence towards us. (Speaker: It's very hard to compete with that!) I was somewhat dismayed at the noise level coming from the alpacas, which were hmming and haahing. I like dead silence most of the time and wouldn't care to listen to a steady diet of that. I inquired and was told 1) they were bored, as they'd heard this presentation before *g*, and 2) that was how they kept in contact with each other as herd animals. Also 3), they'd probably like out of the small yard sometime soon. He promised they don't generally do it all night. Like the previous speaker, he was brimming with enthusiasm for the animals. We were told that these females were ready to be mated, and at that time are generally affectionate and friendly. One was almost entwining itself around the man's legs. After mating, the personality changes abruptly.
Next was a handling, shearing and toenail trimming demo. The animals used for the haltering demonstration were suri alpacas, which have long dreadlocks, rather than the more common woolly huacaya alpacas. Yet again, the owners were virtually besotted with them and talked about sitting outside with a glass of wine watching the young ("crias") frolicking at dusk. Apparently they "prong" or leap off the ground with all four legs like antelope.
Finally a vet spoke about health care, which is pretty simple. Surprisingly, the young do best with Vitamin D injections over the winter. I'd've thought we'd have enough sunshine for any animal, but they're from much higher altitudes in South America.
My budget definitely won't stretch to alpacas any time soon and my place still needs some work before it'll be suitable for anything, but there is a certain amount of appeal.
Mom: You mentioned alpacas a while ago.
Me: Oh, didn't I tell you? I looked into it, and alpacas are very expensive. No alpacas.
Mom: Alpacas are cute.
Me: [raises eyebrows]
Mom: What if I were to look at buying a few alpacas?
Me: Why would you want to do that?
Mom: (says) Alpacas are cute. (means) I would do anything, anything if only you never ask me to help you burn that hill again.
Me: Mom, I won't ask you to help me burn that hill again.
Mom: Good, good. But you have to do something, and alpacas are pretty cute!
Me: Hmm. Maybe life's too short not to have alpacas. I'll look into it some more.
(Why alpacas and not some other animal? They have pads, not hooves, so are much less damaging to the land than most other stock (we won't even talk about horses). I don't like sheep and don't know what I'd do with goats. Alpacas are hardy and there's a growing industry for the fleece.)
So I bought a book and made some inquiries about fencing and so on, and then saw an introductory workshop for potential alpaca owners advertised in the paper.
The venue was one of the state's most successful alpaca studs. My first thought on driving in was "There are a lot of alpacas here" (I'm used to seeing a few here and there, not hundreds in one place) and my second was "What beautiful, stunning, glorious fencing." Fortunately beautiful, stunning, glorious fencing is not required as I don't have any.
They divided us into groups and rotated us around four different presenters, all very personable alpaca breeders and three of the four former city professionals who'd decided they wanted a lifestyle change. First stop was a talk about how to get started in the industry (No. 1 piece of advice: Don't buy the first alpaca you fall in love with. Also on the list: don't buy a male unless you have plenty of work for him, or he'll go for you!). Behind us was a lush green irrigated paddock holding lactating females with approximately 6 month old young. Entertaining as the speaker was, my attention kept being diverted by the goings-on behind me. There was rolling in the leaves, there was playing, and best of all there were adults resting with the legs folded under the body, and the long neck stretched out along the ground. (I've tried to find a picture of this to no avail.)
The next speaker discussed conformation issues and wool quality, with some of the host stud's female alpacas in a small yard behind him. One in particular was very inquisitive and kept leaning over the fence towards us. (Speaker: It's very hard to compete with that!) I was somewhat dismayed at the noise level coming from the alpacas, which were hmming and haahing. I like dead silence most of the time and wouldn't care to listen to a steady diet of that. I inquired and was told 1) they were bored, as they'd heard this presentation before *g*, and 2) that was how they kept in contact with each other as herd animals. Also 3), they'd probably like out of the small yard sometime soon. He promised they don't generally do it all night. Like the previous speaker, he was brimming with enthusiasm for the animals. We were told that these females were ready to be mated, and at that time are generally affectionate and friendly. One was almost entwining itself around the man's legs. After mating, the personality changes abruptly.
Next was a handling, shearing and toenail trimming demo. The animals used for the haltering demonstration were suri alpacas, which have long dreadlocks, rather than the more common woolly huacaya alpacas. Yet again, the owners were virtually besotted with them and talked about sitting outside with a glass of wine watching the young ("crias") frolicking at dusk. Apparently they "prong" or leap off the ground with all four legs like antelope.
Finally a vet spoke about health care, which is pretty simple. Surprisingly, the young do best with Vitamin D injections over the winter. I'd've thought we'd have enough sunshine for any animal, but they're from much higher altitudes in South America.
My budget definitely won't stretch to alpacas any time soon and my place still needs some work before it'll be suitable for anything, but there is a certain amount of appeal.