No I will not be looking into bears but llamas and alpacas! I will be hosting a program this week at our ranch Three Mule Ranch & Saddle Corp. demonstrating llama shearing. We will be showing you the tools, the procedure, the fiber and of course the beautiful animals.
Llamas today originate from the high Andes Mountains in South America. This is a very cool climate so the need for shearing is much less. In fact, our elevation around Jackson County, Missouri is around 900′ while the elevation in the Andes is around 22,000′. You can see why they need all that fiber in Peru, Bolivia and Chile.
We do not raise or have llamas on my ranch for fiber production. However, many people here in the USA do so because of its high commercial demand. The fiber of llamas and especially alpacas is soft, good smelling and strong. The fiber can be used for a wide range of purposes ranging from thread for surgical stitching, to sweaters, purses and hats.
For 20 years we had a program on our ranch called “Show Time Llamas & Alpacas.” Our llamas and alpacas were soft to the touch, fun to hug and made a calming humming sound. They really worked out with our program for autistic and special needs kids that were looking for an “Nonjudgmental Friend.”
Anyway I thought this first program about llamas might be an excellent intro into what “Back to Nature,” is all about and who I am. Stay tuned,
God Bless,
Pam Wining, Host
Back to Nature
