Sep
20
2006
Alpaca fever
Author:What the hell is an alpaca?
That was my first thought as I drove past the brick structure holding a sign announcing the residence to be a farm of the mysterious alpaca.
A cursory internet search revealed an animal looking very much like the love child of a camel, llama and poodle ménage a trois.
Located in one of my smaller reporting communities that could easily double as Mayberry, I eagerly contacted the farm to do a story on them. Several days later, I received an email from a separate alpaca farm in the region advertising a farm tour of 8 different alpaca farms. Apparently, there are 20 or so in the greater Cincinnati area alone.
I had never even heard of an alpaca before last week and suddenly it’s mad alpaca fever.
I went out yesterday to two local farms, armed with my bag of bribery carrots. Alpacas must be the most retarded looking creatures ever. They offer the only proof to the christian big bang theory for it’s as if evolution totally passed them by.
But, they’re also very sweet and docile and when they look at you with those big alien eyes framed by to-die-for lashes, you can’t help but have the sudden and intense urge to become an alpaca farmer too.
