May 6, 2021

Here at the Museum, we have four female alpaca named Retro, Ray, Equinox, and Emily.

The alpacas were sheared on Tuesday morning (5/4). Johnathan has been shearing our alpacas since they arrived at the Museum and has over 26 years of experience.

This process is done yearly to keep the alpaca healthy and cool in the summer while allowing their fleece time to grow back before the winter. The whole process takes between 10 to 15 minutes per alpaca. They are laid on their side and restrained to keep them as calm as possible.

He then uses special electric shears that remove the fleece in large sections. Each alpaca produces around six pounds of fleece, the first or best cut usually goes to local artisans or Museum volunteers for fiber arts. The less desirable fleece or the second cut is used for enrichment with other animals at the Museum.

Ready for summer!