Been for a walk with an alpaca? Try Crarae Gardens 29th August

You can see why the species is named ‘camelid’ but alpacas effortlessly add the irresistible factor.

Crarae Garden, on Loch Fyneside in Mid Argyll, has arranged an experience you won’t ever have imagined – a day long alpaca residency from 11.00am – 16.00pm on 29th August and a walk with one of the three – Freddy (the prize winning Frederico Fandango, to pay him due respect) around the famous Himalayan gardens.

They can’t guarantee the accuracy of Freddy’s interpretation as he leads you, so don’t believe a word he says. But he’ll be a dream companion in a dream setting.

While Freddy does escort duty around the garden, Angus and Gary will stay near the Visitor Centre to share their world with those who don’t feel like trekking with the great Fandango.

Those who are visiting the garden at the time can find out about where alpacas come from, who they’re related to – and what you do with alpaca fleece. The event is included in the normal admission price to the garden. Head Gardener, Nigel Price, says: ‘We are so short staffed, I had to think of some way of cutting the grass’.

The Beachmore alpaca herd

Freddy, Angus and Gary are from Zofija Sloan’s herd of eight alpacas at Beachmore Farm in Kintyre. A week ago it was seven but Ella Bella Umberella – the latest cria (alpaca baby – pictured left, hours old) , arrived at 5.50am on 8th August 2010, appropriately taking the herd to eight.

Zofija’s relationship with the long necked, high-stepping alpacas began when she and her sister went Llama trekking in the Surrey hills about six years ago and she found the experience of walking with a Llama on a lead instead of a dog just fabulous.

Then the two German Shepherds at Beachmore died and she thought, ‘Why not a Llama?’ They had a shelter and enough land so the practicalities were all there.

Discussions with those in the know quickly led her instead to the Llama’s relation, the alpaca which, being smaller, is easier to handle.

Zofija started her herd three years ago with two castrated males, Angus and Garibaldi (Gary). Given that this was the start of it all, there is clearly a missing link in the growth of the herd to eight. Angus and Gary cannot be implicated.

For Christmas 2008, Zifija’s husband bought her a present to remember – two pregnant alpacas, Farah and Ebony.

When the pair arrived at Beachmore last summer, they were already three. One cria, the one you’ll meet at Crarae on 29th August -  Frederico Fandango – had been born and then Ebony gave birth that August (2009) to Evie.

Two new crias, both sired by Star of Bozedown, Francesca and, now, Ella Bella, brought the herd to eight.

All of the Beachmore alpacas have come from Lorna Renshaw at Ardo Alpaca in Aberdeen and Zofija’s ambitions for her herd stop at ten.

Zofija calls this photograph (above) ‘two proud mums’ – celebrating Ella Bella’s recent arrival.

The fleece and a new crafts business

Since she has had the alpacas, Zofija has learned to spin and crochet and plans to use the fleece to create products to sell locally. At the  moment she sends her fleece to a small Lincolnshire mill, Farrlacy Mill, which processes it for her, sending back yarn to sell for knitting and crocheting, or ‘roving’ which is easy to spin.

She has a group now, called Fyne Spinners, which meets on the first Sunday of each month in TALC in Tarbert on Loch Fyne – and it is members of this group who will be at Crarae n 29th August to demonstrate the techniques. Zofija will bring fleece, yarn and roving for you to see, touch and find out about.

She has already started to sell some of the yarn through various outlets on the isle of Gigha and at Carry Farm at
Kames. Her sister in law, Jackie Koimanska (Jackie’s husband is Zofija’s brother, they are Lithuanian) is the manager of the Visitor Centre at Crarae and is now setting up a web site for Zofija through which alpaca products from the Beachmore herd’s fleece could be bought.

These would include knit kits and such like and the potential product range is under active investigation. For instance, Zofija has had a couple of duvets made up for friends from the alpaca fleece – which is fantastic for allergy sufferers as it is hypoallergenic.

Living with alpacas

These lovely animals actually make a working contribution to the farm – they guard the lambs and chickens.

Anyone drawn to the beauty, personality and approachability of alpacas and thinking of having one will find timely what Zofija has to say. They should be kept in threes. They are herd animals and do  not enjoy solitary life.

They need a field shelter because their fleece lacks the lanolin that keeps it waterproof so they get sodden in heavy rain if they have no shelter. It is the lack of lanolin, of course,  that is why the fleece is hypoallergenic.

Col is a different matter – they love it.  Like some of the rest of us, their favourite days are the bright frosty ones and they will even happily stay out all night in these conditions. Argyll’s six week long sub-zero spell this winter was alpaca bliss.

The practicalities of looking after alpacas include:

• trimming their toenails – no salon job this – every four months
• sending off a sample of each animal’s dung three times a year to be tested for wroks and liver fluke – then treating as necessary
• shearing once a year – done by an experienced alpaca shearer. This is a hard job all round. The alpacas legs have to be tied together, with the animal then stretched out on the ground for the shearer to do the work. It takes about ten minutes for each alpaca. The belly fleece – the best – is kept apart, with the neck and leg fleece bagged separately.

Zofija has been on a Camelid Dynamics course run by Julie Taylor Browne, loved it and has adopted its ethos in how she works with her herd. She says it teaches you to respect the animal and to treat them with kindness , creating a relationship where they will be your friend for life.

This year, 2010, Zofija took ‘the three boys’ – Freddy, Angus and Gary, who will be doing the Crarae residency, to the Drymen Show, the only alpaca show in Scotland. Freddy, shown by the Sloan’s son Sam (top photograph), came home with a first in the black alpaca class – so a walk around Crarae Garden on 29th August, conducted by the man himself will be a grand occasion indeed.

Zofija has found him very easy to train to the halter – he just comes right up to her – and is expecting Francesca to be the same.

Like any star, fans are always welcome to Freddy. He loves walking with people. We have no information, though, on his attitude to autographs or photographs but he’ll probably make his views clear on the day.

See you at Crarae on 29th August, 11.00am – 4.oopm