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Show This was Jane Eyre's and Ucanogos' first day at the Galloping Tortoise Ranch in Cannon ville. Debby Urpani says she hasn't been able to get a halter back on these alpacas again, but she's not worried. When the gentle, shy animate are sheared soon, they will provide fibres for her spinning wheel which she will spin into some of the finest yam available First In The County Alpacas Take Up New Residence At Ranch On Hwy 12 In Cannonville CANNONVILLE Two enterprising women are striking out with an environmentally-friendly environmentally-friendly new industry for Garfield County that could easily set a precedent. Local folk searching for a way around recent devastating devas-tating blows to the traditional local economy based upon the harvest of timber and agricultural pursuits related to cattle ranching might well decide to follow suit if their venture proves successful. Debby Urpani who lives in Cannonville and her mother Maureen Urpani who lives in Las Vegas have combined their funds and their ambitions to begin the raising of alpacas on their acreage acre-age on the outskirts of Cannonville. Cannon-ville. "I haven't been able to get a halter on them yet," Debby says, "but there's no hurry. They're very shy, non-agressive animals and will get used to halters again as soon as they adjust a little more." At the residence on the ranch on Utah's Scenic Highway 12, Debby and Jeff Parker who conducts a fly-fishing guide service ser-vice have been operating the Galloping Tortoise Bed & Breakfast for the past two years. The Galloping Tortoise has its downstairs committed to the bed and breakfast which they have completely redesigned and redecorated redec-orated to reflect the colors and the scenery of the Bryce Canyon area. Debby, who was born on Malta, was reared in Europe, attending schools in Switzerland and England, before she, her sister and parents came to the U.S. to stay. She is bi-lingual in English and French and fluent in German. Her language skills (See Alpacas Take Up Residence In Cannonville On Page 3A) . Alpacas Take Up Residence At Hwy 12 Cannonville Ranch From Front Page have led to a sideline business translating menus, brochures, signs, etc. for local tourist-oriented tourist-oriented businesses. The busy young woman is employed at Bryce Canyon Lodge and also works part-time for the Garfield County News. Her widely traveled and equally industrious mother Maureen Mau-reen conducts a tour business from her home in Las Vegas and has invested in the alpaca business venture, visiting often in Cannonville to help. It was Maureen who first introduced intro-duced the idea of raising alpacas. She was searching the internet for "angora" hoping to buy some wool for Debby to card and spin on her frame-style spinning wheel. The next word she came across was "alpaca." Fascinated, she sent to the Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association in Estes, Colo, for additional information and pu-, rchased some alpaca wool in Las Vegas for Debby to spin. Delighted with the silky feel of the long alpaca fibers, Debby, too, became excited and the two soon visited an alpaca breeder in Prescott, Ariz. Animal lovers by nature, they immediately fell in love with the small gentle alpacas. Returning home, the two kept the phone lines buzzing between Cannonville and Las Vegas and they made their decision deci-sion to buy. Jane Eyre, 7, and Ucanogos, 3, both pregnant female alpacas, arrived in Cannonville just three weeks ago. They were purchased from Tom and Carol Frazier of Heber City whose alpaca breeding started seven years ago when Jane Eyre was born. They now have more than 20 animals. The only other Utah breeder is in Park City. Jane Eyre expects her sixth baby, called a "cria," in February and Ucanogos is expecting her first in September. Crias typically weigh from 15 to 19 pounds. The gestation period for alpacas is 335 to 350 days and they can be bred again as early as two weeks after they deliver and I they can produce young for up to 20 years. Almost every alpaca in the U.S. is individually registered and they are probably the most carefully care-fully pedigreed animals in the nation. Registration is done by . blood type and carefully monitored. moni-tored. Usually less than four feet high, and weighing 100 to 175 pounds, alpacas are generally less than one-half the size of a llama. Male alpacas begin breeding when they are between two and three years old. but the females are bred as early as 14 months. ' The AOBA in Colorado says that due to the infancy of the industry, breeding will be the focus for years to come because of the small size of the basic herd. Many traditional farmers have diversified their investment with alpacas and discovered that their investment is paying off. They have found them inexpensive to raise because they eat little and are easy to shelter and fence. They are incredibly healthy animals and cause little environmental environ-mental impact compared with other animals. Alpacas are shorn annually in the sping with females producing about five pounds and males often more than eight. Fibre from a cria on its first shearing sell at a premium for their extra delicacy. Currently, alpaca yarn is going for $7 an ounce and up. Alpaca fibre is in great demand by hand spinners who produce yarns of incredible beauty and softness. Sometimes the alpaca fiber is combined with sheep wool, mohair or silk to create a variety of elegant textiles. There are 22 recognized colors and various shades of those. Ruminants, with three stomachs, stom-achs, alpacas prefer to graze and browse openly. A simple three-sided three-sided structure will provide adequate protection, and fences must be able to keep out predators. Five to 10 animals can thrive on an acre of land. They are seen as profitable and practical alternatives to sheep farming, a once-profitable industry indus-try in Garfield County. Will alpacas one day be as common to the area as sheep were 50 years ago? And will local ladies take to spinning the way they have taken to quilting? Local folk will likely be watching to see what happens at the Galloping Tortoise Ranch. |