What’s furry, hums, likes to sunbathe and is scared of cats?
Give up?
An alpaca.
Native to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, the animals are used in their native countries as beasts of burden. They’re also shorn for their fibrous, silky coat, which is woven into cloth, and their meat is eaten.
David Rose does not use any of his 45 alpacas as draft animals, and he doesn’t eat them. In fact, he’s named every alpaca in his small herd, a sure deterrent to appetite.
But he does sell the fur off their backs, which looks a bit like, but is not, wool.
“They call it fiber,” Rose said at his 3.5-acre minifarm at 91 Chace St.
He dipped his hand into a bag filled with brown alpaca shearings.
“It’s very silky,” he said.
In the barn and in a nearby field, alpacas walked about or lolled in the sun.
“They love to lay in the sun," Rose said. “You [...]

Original post by Marc Munroe Dion