Shear Happiness

Audrey Fulton, alpaca rancher A udrey Fulton spent $25,000 for a pet even though animals didn’t interest her.

Her niece, Lisa Ulvan, talked her into it five years ago. The animal Lisa wanted needed a companion. So soft-hearted Audrey cashed in her IRAs, helped out her niece and shifted retirement for herself and her husband, Dale, into the fast lane.

“I’ve never regretted the investment, but it gets a little trying at times,” Audrey says, gazing at the Spokane River out the window of her Post Falls home.

Audrey and Lisa bought alpacas. They’re silky, dark-eyed, four-footed critters from the Andes Mountains. They’re smaller than llamas, easier to raise and softer to the touch.

Their warm eyes captured Audrey’s heart the first time she saw them. Just as her life was supposed to slow down, she learned to deliver their babies, nurture their growth and spin their fleece.

Dale had raised cattle in his youth, but left the alpacas to Audrey until she enlisted his help. At first he built fences and gates for them in the Dalton Gardens pasture where they’re kept.

Then they inspired him to invent a fiber-cleaning machine that has saved the Fultons money and helped them add to their herd.

“I’ve been accused of having mechanical abilities ever since I was born,” Dale says, chuckling.

He designed his machine after the family’s first two alpacas were sheared four years ago. The satiny strands around their middles filled 33-gallon garbage bags. Audrey and Dale excitedly sent the raw fiber to a mill for cleaning and spinning. It charged $9 per pound. Audrey hoped to sell the precious yarn.

The clean yarn returned to them weighed half as much as the raw fiber they’d sent.

“I was most disappointed,” Dale says. “I decided to do something.”

He built a screened cylinder appropriate for spinning raffle tickets. He attached an engine to spin the device and a fan to blow air through it as it turned. Then he loaded a bag of alpaca fleece into it and tested it. Grit, dust and dried weeds blew through the screen onto the floor.

The fiber came out ready for Audrey to spin. People at spinning fairs were astounded at Dale’s ingenuity. They’d cleaned fleece arduously by hand or sent it to a mill until Dale began tinkering.

He’s sold 10 of his $1,200 fiber-cleaning machines throughout the Northwest. Some of those he’s built. He’s sent blueprints for others.

Several alpaca owners have traded the Fultons an animal for one of Dale’s machines.

Now, the Fultons have 22 alpacas that demand Audrey’s attention and Dale’s engineering skills. Dale, 70, has invented a portable covered feeding shed for his growing family. His brain never stops churning out ideas to improve their lives.

Audrey hopes to open an alpaca outlet in Post Falls with the fiber she’s saved for years. She spins and cards, knits and crochets. The rug she’s designed is soft and silky as fresh flower petals.

“And I thought I was no good with animals,” Audrey says, giggling.

Cleaning up

Remember Tom Smith in St. Maries? He’s the 30-year-old father and husband disabled by aluminum poisoning, which can affect a body’s DNA.

Tom hopes for chemical-stripping treatment at the Northwest Center for Environmental Medicine in Portland.

He is facing years of monthly treatments that cost $200 each. Tom has no medical insurance.

The Bank of Latah has opened the Tom Smith Medical Expense Fund for donations. Mail checks to 1500 Main, St. Maries, ID, 83861. All branches will accept donations.

Who in your North Idaho community is a model despite medical problems? Inspire Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814; FAX to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.

This sidebar appeared with the story: IF YOU GROW Clean wool

The Fultons will clean most animal fiber for $1 per pound. For details, call (208) 773-2978.