Alpacas: story on the Sleeping Giant Alpaca Farm from Polly
Kolstad
Sandra Rumney
swings the metal gate open, and forty-two fleecy heads in the corral nearby turn
her way.
Recognizing their
trusted keeper, Rumney’s alpaca herd begins to hum.
“They are mouth
breathers. That is how they communicate,” replies Rumney of the curious animal
chorus that seems to come closer and closer.
She smiles and explains: “they walk up to a person in an effort to smell
your breath as a means of identification.”
Oddly, they don’t want to be petted.
They just want to be in your face.
In the shadow of
the Sleeping Giant Mountain near Cascade, Rumney is raising these members of
the camelid family (and cousins to the llama, guanaco, and vicuna) for their
fleece.
Far from their
native South America, where they are found in the high Andes of 14,000 ft.
elevation, the alpacas have adapted to the Montana climate.
After retiring
from years in the advertising business, Rumney brought the animals from a small
acreage she and her husband, Jeff, had in California. She acknowledges that “the winters in Montana
are a little cold for them,” yet, alpacas are healthy and easy to raise. For
over two years, she has kept her long haired herd of Huacaya (teddy bear) and
Suri alpacas.
Forever an animal
lover, Rumney points out that though they are curious, for the most part they
don’t want to be touched. Alpacas can kick, but because of their size (three
feet tall at the withers), the impact is minimal, and interestingly, they do
not spit on you. (Llamas will spit.)
They are too small to pack or be ridden. Possessing only bottom teeth and a hard palate
on the top, the alpacas graze and do not rip grass out by the roots. They take
supplements of vitamins and minerals in pellet form. They are almost
indefensible without horns, hooves, or claws.
Surrounding the corral is a high tensile electric fencing and a guardian
dog to keep predators out. Recognizing
their dependency, Rumney is always vigilant, but does let “the boys” out in the
pasture during the day. The adult males show up at the corral at five o’clock
for dinner and want the security of the barn.
Some of the males are “herdsires” (or studs, aka “Macho”) and are used
to breed.
The moms are very
protective of the babies. Babies are
called” “cria” (based on the word creation). A female is either a maiden or a
“hembra” and will have only one cria, weighing between ten and twenty pounds,
after a gestation period of nearly twelve months.
Rumney provides a proper and protective
environment for her herd which has a positive impact on the overall health and
well being of the alpaca which in turn aids in the quality of their fleece
production.
Alpacas produce a fleece that is lighter,
softer, stronger and warmer than wool.
Alpaca fleece has no allergens. The
microscopic air pockets make it light weight with a high insulation value. It is one of the finest fibers in the world,
with very little barb. Both male and female alpacas will produce a good
fiber.
The shearing
season is usually in May. Alpacas fleece
will grow four to six inches per year.
If they are not shorn, they do not shed their wool. It takes three people to shear an animal,
with the resulting fleece weighing five to eleven pounds.
After she shears
the alpaca, Rumney hand washes the fleece in cool water with mild soap or
shampoo. It must be just swished around
in the water, not agitated. All told, she
may wash it two or three times and then,
hang the fiber on hangars to dry. Next,
the clean fiber which looks like cotton and feels like silk, is spread out on a
screen. Eventually, it is immersed in
dye baths for 45 minutes, then, set until cool, about twelve hours. This long arduous process of making fabric,
or wet felting, continues as Rumney then cards the fiber on a hand cranked
machine. Thus the fiber becomes combed
and is laid out on a table according to her design in sheets on top of one another. Here, the fiber is rolled on bubble wrap with
a back and forth motion so the fibers shrink and interlock with each
other. The rolling process is repeated
from the other end to further intertwine the fiber.
“It’s making
fabric,” Rumney says of the wet felting process which is 7000 years old, and
predates weaving.
Observers today recognize the quality of
American alpaca fleece. The commercial market is wide open in the U.S.
“Even on the
catwalks in Paris, designers have alpaca, and now, show ring people recognize
the fiber and how good it is on the animals. A judge from Peru can’t believe
how fast the quality has grown in the US,” she remarks.
Rumney takes her products to juried art shows.
“I make wearable
art,” she notes, alluding to her handmade original scarves and wraps, woven
rugs, and woven throws that she has sold all over the north west, and her purse
designs which she hopes to put on the market this summer. In addition, she buys goat milk soap from a
neighbor and felts it with alpaca fleece. Her products are currently available
at Latigo and Lace in Augusta, Montana, and at the Four Ravens in Missoula.
Blue
ribbons attesting to the quality of Rumney’s fiber fabric and the value of her
herdsires line the walls of the Sleeping Giant Alpaca Farm, a tribute to the
roots of Sandra and Jeff Rumney whose Montana families go back generations.
For pictures of
Rumney’s products, go to sgthreads.com
