A couple weekends ago, Joey and I had the chance to visit an alpaca farm, called Canzelle Alpacas up in Carpenteria, CA. We had an absolute blast! I even fed one of the alpacas a carrot from my own mouth! (If you dont believe me, head to my IG @amandac_smith to check out the proof!)

In the meantime, here’s a little bit of what I learned while out on the farm.

• An alpaca is a domesticated species similar too, and often confused with the llama, though they are much smaller than llamas. Because they are related, they can also cross-breed.
• They originally come from the mountains of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile.
• Llamas were originally bred to be working animals, where as the alpaca was bred specifically to provide fur.
• Alpaca “fiber” (fur) is woven and used as a wool for various items; such as sweaters, ponchos, socks, bedding, etc.
• Alpacas communicate through body language and are famously known for spitting. An alpaca will spit when they are in distress, fearful, or are trying to show dominance.
• They also hum!!! A mother alpaca will hum to her baby constantly and once in adulthood, the alpaca will continue to hum to signify happiness or curiosity (kind of like a cat purring).
• Alpacas chew their food and crunch items like apples and carrots very loudly (watch the video to see what I mean!)

It was so much fun learning about the alpaca and having the chance to feed and pet them! Anyone out there ever met an alpaca or llama before? Video of our experience coming soon!

xoxo,

Amanda