Story by
Wishelle
Banks,
Outpost staff
In this package:
- Just the facts . . .
- The family that stays together . . .
- Feeding time . . .
- Getting to know you . . .
- The business of alpacas . . .
- The wonderful web whe weaves . . .
- If I could talk to the animals . . .
- Alpaca links
Cruise out
southwest of Reno's metro area, on winding roads around the
ranches and ponds, and there they are: those cute, whimsical
critters with long legs and expressive faces. No, it's not a
long-lost delegation from Hooters. They're alpacas, and
they're being raised in northern Nevada -- and around the
world -- for their wonderful wool, status as a
low-maintenance livestock and a new, '90s kind of family
pet.
"Come
closer...I won't bite...OR: COULD YOU PLEASE JUST
TRIM MY BANGS?"
Photo by Wishelle Banks.
This tranquil, only-in-the-Biggest-Little-City kind of life is what Linda and Brian Brodsky and their two daughters are living at their Great Basin Alpacas Ranch in southwest Reno. A pleasing palette of 13 earth-toned alpacas from alabaster to ebony -- parade toward the fence to investigate new faces.
Alpaca ranching is a rapidly growing American enterprise that migrated north from South America -- mostly in Peru, Argentina and Chile -- where the creatures peacefully co-existed with humans for thousands of years. Ancient civilizations revered the animals who provided so much warmth, elevating them to an honored status in Incan ceremonies.
Linda Brodsky --a fifth-generation Nevadan -- is an attorney in private practice, with an interest in animal rights. In 1994, Brian's work as a geologist took the couple to Peru, where they first fell for the allure of the alpaca.
"This is a lifestyle change," Linda says. "No one's quit their day job yet. We really enjoy the animals very much, and we thought too it was a nice opportunity for the kids to be outdoors." TOP
Alpacas belong to the camelid family, so they're cousins of the camel and the llama. There are two varieties of alpacas: huacaya ("wah-ky-uhs") -- which thrive in the lofty altitudes of the Andes -- and Suri alpacas, a breed prized for its super fine fleece that resembles dreadlocks.
"They're the oldest domesticated animal," Linda says. "They've been domesticated for 6,000 years."
Female
alpacas are called dams (no wisecracks, please), the
males are known as sires and the offspring they produce are
called crias.
Hungry
dams and a cria eagerly anticipate a pellet
treat.
Photos by Wishelle Banks.
"They're interesting animals," Brian says. "They live to be, presumably, over 20 years old. With better husbandry practices, it could be longer. They can breed for 15 years or so."
Contrary to popular belief, alpacas don't spit -- unless they're threatened, usually by another animal. When that happens, they let loose with the loogeys. Talk about a defense mechanism.
Living proof on four legs, one of the crias at the Brodsky ranch walks up with a dried-up loogey stuck to his forehead. No dignity there. Linda and Brian suggest that the poor baby annoyed his mother one too many times.
Additionally, being on the wrong end of an alpaca when it issues a warning stomp or kick can be predictably dangerous -- for a cria or a human. Besides the occasional spitting and kicking -- habits offensive enough to run off coyotes and other predators like Howard Stern -- alpacas "rarely act aggressive [toward] humans," says AlpacaNet, a comprehensive Web site about alpacas. TOP
Holding an old coffee can filled with feed pellets, the Brodskys give their alpacas a hand-fed treat. Totally sure of his place in the pecking order, one alpaca steps right up and begins nibbling away.
"Taft's our dominant male," Linda notes with a hint of bored facetiousness.
"He's a macho man," jokes Brian.
That must explain the love bite on the hand that feeds him, while Brian laughs.
The Brodskys and the coffee can move on to the next pen. There, an assertive female tries to gobble all the pellets herself while the other alpacas jockey for position.
"She's a hog," Linda says. "They're all pregnant again -- they'll have babies next August or September -- and they're still nursing, so they're really hungry. The babies won't eat (pellets). It takes them a while. They eat grass."
Daily hay and water, a lean-to shelter, access to veterinary care and grassy pastures with a fence high enough to keep out enemies are the basic requirements for alpaca ranching. Brian explains that the couple began the business in 1998, with four alpacas.
"Everything
was put together. We thought it would be nice to have a few
acres, to raise some sort of animal. Alpacas are cool
animals. If you're going to raise any livestock, what are
better? You don't have to slaughter them, you don't have to
eat them. You have a product that's sought-after --
[their wool is] luxurious. The maintenance costs are
very little. They eat grass, or even if they eat hay, it's
like a bale a month per animal."
Grassy
pastures and a high fence to deter coyotes is a
good start to alpaca ranching.
Photo by Wishelle Banks.
One of the alpacas flops down into the dirt and rolls around ecstatically like a dog.
"We were looking at businesses," says Linda. "The mining industry was depressed. So Brian was thinking of an alpaca importation business or something -- just the wool. And then he said, 'the animals are wonderful.'"
And ever since the Brodskys brought the animals into their world, the hills are alive with the sound of wonderful music. TOP
The family that stays together . . .
Just as dolphins and whales sing their lullabies, and just as mother sheep bleat for their lambs, alpacas have a harmonious language all their own -- a language that sounds like singing.
"They hum," Linda explains. "They have an alarm sound" to warn each other of intruders.
These sweet vocalizations are an essential communication system in the woolly wonders' closely-knit, clan-like society. Alpacas hum when they're scared, when a lone critter becomes separated from the herd, when they don't know the words.
Incredibly, says AlpacaNet, pregnant dams have also been known to hum to other dams during labor to herald the arrival of a new cria.
Cool.
"Look at
their faces," Linda says, nuzzling a mother alpaca. "They're
very clean animals. They're sheared once a year -- we
sheared in May -- and the next day she dropped her
baby."
Protective
dams reassuringly surround a
cria.
Photo by Wishelle Banks.
Well, yeah -- after an eternal, 11-month gestation. That alone could explain the bonding within the alpaca community. Alpacas are truly interdependent on one another.
"You would never get one animal," Brian advises, "'cause they're herd animals. They would become depressed."
Linda agrees.
"They would die. We should all be in twos. For instance, this one got a foxtail inside his mouth, and he had an abcess. He had to go to the vet and have an operation, and we had to take Pancho down there with him to share a stall at the vet's, because they can't be alone. They have friends and preferences, definitely."
Just like humans.
"People say animals don't have emotions, right?" Brian says.
Alpacas are curious and tolerant toward human beings, yet naturally shy and aloof, gregariously preferring the company of their peers.
"When they had babies, they wouldn't allow our dogs to be in with them, and they formed a circle around the babies," says Linda.
Alpacas don't mind a human touch, but they can't stand anyone aiming for their kinky, pompadour-sporting heads. Don't even think, she warns, about touching the crias -- a poor decision that could easily warrant unladylike behavior from a dam.
Gingerly, the Brodskys put halters on a pair of alpacas, snap their leads on and ramble around the ranch. TOP
The gentle
alpaca is known for its sweet disposition around humans,
even young children. And -- from Brian's morning cup of
coffee, to a beer after work, to children playing in the
backyard -- the alpacas consistently want to be near the
family.
Heads up! This is Alpaca
Country.
Photo by Wishelle Banks.
"The more you work with them, "Brian begins, "the more . . ."
" . . .They trust you," Linda finishes. "When we first got them from Oregon, no one could even come close, so they get to know you and your voice. See how they run up to us? They really know Brian and like him, because he spends the most time with them. They don't charge, but they run. They're very fast."
And when the animals are happy, alpacas pronk -- they prance with all four feet off the ground, gliding through the air like Santa's reindeer, or a sensation similar to cantering atop a sturdy steed.
Brian leads the way over to another pen full of curious alpacas, none of them pronking at the moment.
"These are the boys," he says. "Our dams are all high-quality females, and they're bred to noted sires."
One affectionate alpaca walks right up, humming...to himself, perhaps.
"This is Rudy," says Linda. Rudy hums again. "He's 15 months. He'll let you stroke his neck. Put your head down and he'll touch noses."
Rudy hums adorably, batting his long eyelashes.
"He can't bite, 'cause they only have teeth on the upper half," she says. "We took him to my daughter's school, and there were a hundred kids, and they all petted him, and he did great. He's very gentle, and he's always been around kids, so he's a real nice guy." TOP
Sure they're lovable, but they're also profitable.
"The good females usually go for between $18,000 and $25,000," Linda says casually.
For one alpaca? That's nothing.
"The really good studs could go for up to a half-million," she says. "So it's kind of a big-buck business. People are getting into it."
Alpaca breeders, like other breeders, typically end up with two qualities of animal from a litter -- pet quality, those that reputable breeders sell for pets and don't breed, and the higher-quality that has fleece that produces salable wool.
Not that Linda or Brian play favorites.
In one pen, she lovingly tends to her non-fleece producers.
"These guys are pet quality only. The fleece isn't that good, you wouldn't breed them. We like them for pets."
Still, those
animals endure shearings just the same.
How can anyone with a beating heart resist
this face?
Photo by Wishelle Banks.
"They feel really embarrassed once they're sheared," Brian adds. "They go out to the other alpacas, like a dog with their tail between their legs. It looks better if you leave a little topknot, plus I think they feel better to have a little coverage."
For a reprieve from the hot Nevada summer sun, however, the alpacas will endure the shearings -- a harvest Linda loves to reap from the wool producers.
"Once they're sheared, we send the wool to the United States co-op. Then it was sent to South America to be cleaned, carded and woven into goods. It's a superior fleece to wool, and it's warmer and less hypoallergenic. It's stronger, softer and incredibly warm."
She shows off a bagful of alpaca wool in its raw form, plus a beautiful blanket and three cozy scarves.
"It has a really high insulation-to-weight factor," says Brian. "Right now, there's no large commercial processing facility in the states that will process alpaca. It's slightly different than sheep's wool. It's a cottage industry, on a small-scale. So what the co-op is doing is sending their fleece -- last year they had 28,000 pounds -- to Peru, because they've got the history and the facility. It was cost-effective, because it goes in and out without a duty. So it's basically just shipping a very light material to South America." TOP
The wonderful web whe weaves . . .
Here in America -- in Fernley, Nev., to be precise -- Kay Hollaway has been spinning and weaving wool for over six years. Just over a year ago, though, she began trying her hand at alpaca.
"The hand-spun stuff I really like," Hollaway says. "I bought some that was machine-spun to make scarves with. It's a little bit finer, and it's OK, but I like the hand-spun better because it's a little bit thicker. It's beautiful."
Alpaca can be blended with other fibers -- like sheep's wool, even some synthetics -- to create a strong fabric with superior warmth and insulation properties.
"The hand-spinning makes it different. It's not like machine-spinning; it's not perfect. There are spinners who can spin perfectly, and I applaud those people. I think that's wonderful. There are several people I've taken workshops from, and I'm in awe of their spinning ability.
In this ready-made world, the lost art of spinning and weaving alpaca and other wools is an inspiration for Hollaway and those who receive her one-of-a-kind works of art.
"It's so easy to go to a store or anywhere and buy something that's already made. That's almost cheating," she figures. "I can weave up chenille scarves, but you can buy those at ShopKo. If people are looking for cheap, then they can go to the store."
Hollaway's gifts are hand-made, from the alpaca, through her artist's hand and, ultimately, worn by people she knows and loves.
"A friend of mine just had me make a scarf out of my wool, and she was thrilled, [plus] the pride that I had in being able to create something…they really like. When I know the person that I'm making these for, then it kind of helps me create something that I know they're going to use. You're very critical of your own work, but I hope some of my stuff will be heirloom quality, where they can hand it down."
Cleaning, combing, spinning and weaving the miracle fiber can be more beneficial than any psychotherapy session. The relaxing nature of this tangible work with such a finely textured wool has a calming effect.
"It's like a meditation," Brian says. "Some spinners carry the spinning wheels in their car, and they pull over on the side of the road and just start spinning yarn. They say it's very therapeutic." TOP
If I could talk to the animals . . .
Healthy alpaca wool naturally begins with healthy alpacas. The Brodskys strive to prevent breeding and care disasters that lead to diseased alpacas, or animals with birth defects. Peter Rolfe, DVM, a new veterinarian at Reno's Bonde Lane Animal Hospital, has studied and cared for alpacas and other camelids -- critters with a biological feature that sets them apart from the majority of the animal world.
"They have three compartments to their stomachs," Rolfe explains. "We treat them much like llamas and camels, and they're susceptible to some of the same diseases. They tend to be a bit more docile than llamas, (which) outweigh humans, so alpacas are definitely easier to handle. As a veterinarian, I prefer their temperament."
Although alpaca ranching is very common in the Pacific Northwest, Rolfe says that wet climate can also cause common health problems for alpacas.
"A lot of
issues are intestinal parasites. When I vaccinate an alpaca,
I treat them (with the same drugs) as I would with sheep.
(But) you can't pull a book off the shelves. A lot of times
if I'm presented with a really sick one, the amount of
knowledge is limited, and usually by process of elimination
-- like medicine. The research is all being done in
Washington and Oregon. It's a constant battle in those two
states. Nevada's probably a lot better climate."
The
subordinates wait to eat while the dominant alpaca
gets his fill.
Photo by Brian Brodsky.
If a cria is born with a condition similar to a cleft palate in humans, its chances of survival are virtually zero. And alpacas with implications of passing on potentially deadly birth defects are carefully kept out of the breeding stock. But in a lucrative enterprise like this, there's the usual bad apple in the barrel.
"The controversy is that people suspect some people still breed them, even when they know that," Brian says. "The breeders are pretty high-caliber people, for the most part. They're responsible, they're animal people. You get those kinds of characters in any industry."
It's the draw of big money that lures unscrupulous operators, Linda says.
"The babies should stay with their moms at least six months -- and some people will sell a baby at three or four month." she says. "There are people who will sell and people who will buy, and you shouldn't do it. They need to be with their moms, socialize and get the full benefits out of lactation."
"There are quality people in the industry," Brian observes. "There are doctors, lawyers, professionals and retirees that tend to gravitate toward this because it's something that can keep them occupied. There's people in our position -- young families who just want to have a semi-rural lifestyle."
At Great Basin Alpacas, the Brodsky's gentle approach to the genteel creatures suits the family -- and their herd -- just perfectly. TOP
Alpaca links
Posted Dec. 15,
1999
Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost
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