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Meeting Alpacas
(2 comments; last comment posted October 1, 2007 12:18 pm)
Sagebrusch Suri Aplacas eat alfalfa during an open ranch day at Mary McGiver's ranch in Eldorado, N.M.. Suri Alpacas make up only 17 percent of Aplaca fur in the United States. For the first time, Sept. 29, 2007, was deemed National Open Ranch Day, a time for Alpaca raisers across the nation to show their animals and educate the public about Alpaca fleece. Natalie Guillen/The New Mexican
By NATALIE STOREY | The New Mexican
September 29, 2007
In a herd, the dame Dahlia stands out. The 6-month-old brown alpaca is the easiest to befriend at Alpaca Works farm and gives the sweetest Eskimo kisses with her speckled, white nose, according to 8-year-old handlers Elizabeth Walstonie and Molly Bon.
“She’s the nicest baby here,” Elizabeth said. “And she’s really calm when you pet her.”Elizabeth and Molly were on hand at the farm Saturday along with the animals’ owner, Susan Sasser, and other farm employees to introduce the public to their herd. Dahlia, Sasser said, is the most social of the bunch, while her mother, a black beauty named Mariah, “doesn’t like to be messed with.”
The cluster of half a dozen alpaca farms near Eldorado includes Alpaca Works, Sagebrush Alpacas and the Blue Mesa Ranch. Each ranch is opening its gates this weekend for National Alpaca Farm Day. The ranches will be open to the public today from noon to 4 p.m.
Unlike llamas, alpacas are not used as pack animals. They are valued for their fleece, which, when spun into yarn, can be made into exceptionally warm clothing and is softer than wool, so it lacks itchiness. Alpacas, native to South America, are related to llamas and camels. They can live to be 20 years old.
Each May, the alpacas at Alpaca Works are shorn. Sasser has their fleece sent to Magdelena to be made into yarn, which sells between $6.50 and $45 a bundle, depending on how soft it is.
The softness of the fleece, as well as its ability to retain a crimp and reflect light determine how valuable it will be.
Alpacas don’t bite — they only have teeth on the bottom of their mouths — but they do occasionally spit. Handlers say the spit is usually directed at other alpacas.
Tom and Sue Huot, who live in Rancho Viejo, said they came to Alpaca Works on Saturday because they had long wanted to see and touch the sweet, furry animal.
“I heard they were soft, but I wanted to see if they were actually that soft,” said Sue Huot. Yarn made from the fleece, which is on sale at the farm, didn’t disappoint her.
Sasser said her farm is moving toward naturally colored yarn and fleece. For many years, South American breeders preferred to breed only white and gray alpacas, because their fleece was considered to be the finest and the easiest to dye. One of the goals of the Alpaca Works farm is to breed black and brown alpacas with the highest quality of fleece, which doesn’t have to be dyed.
Susan Sasser and her husband started their farm in 2001. Sasser, a weaver, said she became fixed on the idea of owning alpacas after seeing a photo of one in Sunset magazine in 1996. There are now 40 animals at their farm.
“It was the face that got me,” she said. “And the fleece, and the idea of alpacas. But I never dreamed we would end up with this many.”
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