You don’t see many alpacas in this part of the world, but on the drive between Fernie and Sparwood you might catch a glimpse of a small herd in Hosmer.
The four alpacas - Bill, Bob, Basil and Ben - belong to Sandra Barrett of Fernie Forge, and she uses them for a multitude of things, mainly for their warm and light fibre which she uses for felting.
“It’s light and warm, and it makes beautiful clothing and garments,” she said, showing off a pretty green hat made with the alpaca Bob’s fibre.
”It does felt in a hairier way than sheep’s wool,” she said, explaining sheep’s wool also had natural barbs in it, making it a little tricky.
Barrett uses the fibre to make garments, artwork and even sculptures. Sometimes she dyes the fibre, but said she mostly loves the natural colours.
While they’re an animal rarely seen around B.C. (being native to South America where they are bred for their fibre), Barrett said they were a good addition despite her four being unique to the Elk Valley.
“They’re so much less trouble than sheep that they’re worth it. With sheep you have worms and foot-rot and all sorts of things go wrong with them, but with alpacas they just live on the land and I feed them hay in winter and pellets, and in the summer they just graze.”
The four she currently has on her Hosmer property (previously mentioned as being called Bill, Bob, Basil and Ben) are an homage to British TV personalities.
Basil, the grey one with a striking moustache is named after the character Basil Fawlty (don’t mention the war).
“They’re all got their individual personalities,” said Barrett. “They’re lovely creatures.”
Their uniqueness seems to work in their favour - Barrett said in 16 years of owning alpacas, bears have never bothered them.
Artwork and garments made using Barrett’s ‘B-team’ of alpacas’ fibre can be found at the Eye of the Needle store in Fernie.
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