RIO LINDA, CA (MPG) - Welcome to the hot and muggy days of summer. What if you were wearing a thick woolly coat?  Think sheep, horses and my favorite, the alpacas. These animals for comfort and to not get heat stroke, need to be sheared. Fortunately, it is only needed once a year. But, when needed, “Who you gonna call?” The shearing mom and daughter team at Nostalgia Farms. Meet Felicia and Kate and their heavy-duty shears. 

I first made an appointment in April. The night before it rained for the first time in months. I got a call from the mom we had to cancel the shearing.  “We just cannot shear wet hair,” she told me.  Also, she would call me to reschedule. It took a while to reschedule. “You cannot imagine the fix that one day of rain did to a schedule,” then she laughed.

The time, 8:30 AM, was postponed. They kept their word, showing up at 3ish. Quite the sight, they both got out charring these huge shears and ropes. I hired them last year and knew what the ropes were for. Nothing cruel. Any animal is not going to just submit to being sheared even if it is for their benefit. I already caught up the alpacas, put them in their holding pen. The first alpaca, Doris, we laid down together. Ropes stretched out the animal by front and back legs. I stayed at Doris’ head talking to her while they went to work, shearing off those huge woolly coats. It took about 1/2 hour on one side, then you gently flip over the animal and shave the other side. Once done, off came the ropes and she was loose. The second one, BooBoo, went down to her ‘cush’ position (they fold up all four legs and go down on their belly). She would not get up, so we had to drag her (no animals hurt here) to the ropes for her shave. BooBoo was done faster due to their practice on Doris. I let BooBoo loose, off she ran, too.

Talk about strange in front of your eyes! Those alpacas went from two huge, hairy beasts to animals that looked like deer. I had to include pictures for the ‘wow’ factor.  Now, their summer will be tolerable.  Big yeah and big thanks to Nostalgia Farms. They wanted the public to know, “To feel free to give us a call and we will work you in!” Just look up Nostalgia Farms for contact information. They do sheep, alpacas, llamas, goats, horses, donkeys and dogs. Pretty much anything you need the hair taken off of. I can now rest as I look out on my farm, see the shaved, cooled bodies of my sweet alpacas.  Enjoy your summer!!