Vol. 29, No. 2 #1 (April 2006). What do practicing law and raising alpacas have in common?.

• Author: By Mary Angell

Wyoming Bar Journal

2006.

Vol. 29, No. 2 #1 (April 2006).

What do practicing law and raising alpacas have in common?

WYOMING LAWYERApril 2006/Vol. 29, No. 2What do practicing law and raising alpacas have in common?By Mary Angell

What do practicing law and raising alpacas have in common? Absolutely nothing. And for Cheyenne attorney Lynn Boak, that's the point. Boak, full-time counsel for the Internal Revenue Service and part-time sole practitioner, is in the alpaca business.

She and her husband, John Pippinger, call their ranch north of Cheyenne the Arroyo Seco, which is Spanish for "dry gulch." It's home to a menagerie of animals: a couple of dogs, several cats, four horses, three llamas and a burro, and 23 alpacas, the long-necked South American animals commonly confused with llamas.

The dogs and cats, obviously used to being petted, rub up against visitors in the hopes of some attention. But the alpacas are not pets.

"They take too much money and too much time to be just a hobby," Boak said. "We have 30 acres and we wanted to do something with the land. I always wanted to get horses, but I knew they were a black hole (financially). I researched a lot of things and came up with alpacas. It was a business decision."

Not that she isn't fond of them, however.

"When we got them, I fell in love with them," she said. "They're wonderful animals"

The most common question people ask her is what is the difference between llamas and alpacas. Though the animals look similar, llamas are bigger and stronger, often used as pack animals. Boak said alpacas are smaller, easier to handle and have better temperaments. The animals are prized for their fleece, which can be made into blankets, sweaters, scarves and hats. Unlike llamas, alpacas can be sheered every year, and they produce a finer quality fleece than llamas.

And yes, alpacas do spit - but mostly at each other. The worst of the spitters in Boak's herd have been sold, she said.

The second question Boak hears most often is what do you do with alpacas?

In addition to breeding, raising and selling the animals, she sells their wool and products made from it.

"A lot of people have been exposed to coarse, itchy fiber that they think is alpaca, but it's not," she said, explaining that many blankets and sweaters labeled "alpaca" are actually a blend of alpaca and other wools. "The breeders are...