Here in upstate New York, late in the spring, the alpacas must shed their heavy coat to keep from overheating in the approaching warmth of the summer.  The fiber is collected, sorted, and spun into yarn or felted.  Alpacas don't typically stand still for their shearing, so shearing is done while they are laying, restrained, on their sides.  Sometimes this is done on the ground - other times on a table.

Take a look at the pictures of our May 2005 shearing below! 

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    "Luke" with his winter coat                                                       Stepping into the stall ....

  And getting ready to be shorn.

After one side is done, the alpaca is turned to the other side.  When the shearing is done, the table top is gently lowered, and Luke is returned to a standing postion ...

  where he shows off his new look!

More "before" and "after" pictures:

    "Sierrabita" 

"Batman" in process:

"Batman" after: 

Our llama is another story!  A halter and lead is all he needs!

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