Alpacas weave their way into couple's lives

BLUFFDALE — Love at first sight? Absolutely! Dark eyes, curly locks, whimsical expression. What's not to love?

For Dan and Rebecca Merrill, all it took was one TV commercial.

At the time, the Merrills were living in California. In the past, they'd had horses, but they were at a time in their lives when they were going to make some changes. "We were going to leave California. We'd been around animals all our lives, but we didn't want to stay with horses," says Dan.

That's when they saw an ad on TV for alpacas. The more they looked into raising the animals, the more it appealed to them. And so, in 1999, they moved to Bluffdale and bought their first alpacas. It's been nothing but love ever since.

"We love the lifestyle they offer. We love them," says Rebecca.

The Merrills raise suri alpacas, one of two kinds that are popular in the United States. The huacaya are more plentiful, explains Rebecca, "but we were attracted to the suri. We like the luster of their fleece. It glistens and shines, and it's twisted into locks that hang down. They are aristocratic in carriage; they're very elegant looking."

The Merrills raise breeding stock, shear and market the fleece and show their animals around the country.

Alpacas have become increasingly popular in this country, they say. There are approximately 120,000 registered animals, of which only 20,000 or so are suri, says Rebecca. Alpaca shows are held from coast to coast.

This weekend, the National Alpaca Show will take place at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy. Sponsored by the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association, the four-day show will feature class competitions as well as demonstrations and exhibits of how the fiber is used, and vendors offering handcrafted alpaca items. The show is free and open to the general public.

The Merrills will be showing five alpacas at the national meet. Animals are judged by class accord-

ing to color, age, type, gender. "They are judged 50 percent on confirmation and 50 percent on fiber quality," says Rebecca.

Alpacas are native to South America, where they have been domesticated for thousands of years. They played a central role in the Incan culture that occupied the high Andean plateaus and mountains, and suri fiber, especially, was prized by Incan royalty.