Meet the Alpacas
Murex
This itty, bitty dark in color alpaca is Murex, mom of Coral (yes,in the picture, the dark, tiny, one is the mom). She finally got around to weaning her baby, Coral at almost two years. Murex is also Head of the entire herd! She got to boss around the 400 pound llamas with the help of her only daughter, (aka Coral the Underboss), when we lived in RI. Now she is in charge of 18 alpacas, many of which are twice her size! Not named when I adopted her, but she came up to me and asked to be taken to my farm...I fell in love with the huge soul and the crazy, long ear hair most of all...so I named her after the rare and beautiful Venus Comb Murex from the sea. She is also mom to 2 amazing boys: Busycon and Seabiscuit.
Busycon
We were hoping for a light colored Alpaca from the planned breeding to a retired show champion. In the fiber world, light colors are easy to dye… dark colored Murex, once again makes a gorgeous cria Mr. Busycon: above-and-beyond presence, size, conformation and fiber quality! But, he’s black. The fiber mill I was using was ready to blend and experiment however. (I had good white and fawn…can we mix and create a grey?). ¾ Merry’s white with ¼ Busy’s black yields AMAZING grey! His black fiber with added synthetic ‘Firestar’ makes a very sought after roving that spins like a dream to boot!
Teasure
Treasure discovered me when I was at an alpaca broker’s farm in RI. I said I was looking for a white female. She is a regal presence with dark slate-colored eyes. She stands out as a tall and stately matron, who is typically calm. In her younger days she was shown once and won 1st prize as a yearling. She only has an adamant and very vocal opinion on 2 things: getting sheared and people doing something with her newborn cria! Her fiber spins wonderfully whether left the natural white or dyed. Both her daughters Gem and Opal are from the same father Wingman. Beautiful young ladies who look like they will turn out similar to their mom Treasure.
Opal
Opal was born June 20th of 2025 at 18.4 pounds. Looks just like her big sister Gem, but 5 pounds heavier at birth. Both Treasure and Opal are doing fantastic. Opal loves to kiss all the other alpacas and us which is SO SWEET. Un-like big sister, Ms Opal has an affinity for water. She runs in the sprinkler, rolls in the sprinkler and drinks out of the sprinkler too. (she is an 9 on the Hoolie Water-Scale…lol). Gem-Gem on the other hand is a 4 (no running or rolling: just drinks and steps through). True opals have water within their crystalline structure, so she is aptly named. Another treasure for the Sanctuary!
Dahlia
Dahlia is a strong willed, fiery-copper colored girl. She started her life at 18 pounds and has been an exuberant, vivacious presence ever since! (Just ask her mom Rose). Dahlia is really good at using her 2 lips like fingers. If you want anything untied or unplugged just ask Dahlia. She is also in charge of the dinner schedule: if we are working in the barn but NOT getting the dishes ready in a timely fashion, she grabs a back pocket or back of the shirt and tugs vigorously.
Hoolie
Hoolie started life at only 13.4 pounds, so I gave him a strong name he could grow into! In true Hooligan fashion he rolls in the Sweet gum and gets the balls in his hair. He finds a 10 ft grape vine to get wrapped up in ( Yes, I have to clip it out of his hair). AND Hoolie loves water…he goes to stand at the sprinkler and hums until it is turned on so he can sit or roll in the water. He drinks out of any faucet too…he gets a 10 out of 10 on the Hoolie-Water-Scale obviously!
Mimosa
Mimosa is the mom of Muriel. After a good deal of sleuthing at the Registry, we discovered she is 18. She has several medical issues that could be from her inbreeding past. We are keeping her comfortable and she seems very grateful to be here. She loves her alfalfa and sweet feed too!
Comfrey
Ms. Comfrey has taken on the role of baby sitter for the 2 current crias Seabiscuit and Opal. She is more than happy to run and pronk with them at dusk too. Comfrey looks the most like a wild Vicuna with her big dark eyes, small stature and cinnamon colored back with white belly. She is 16 but is not shy about teasing our Macho male Busycon over the fence. In the show ring she got a 1st and a 2nd. Just like the plant, Comfrey is nice to have around. She’s often spotted by herself in the pasture at the top of the hill (she likes to come up the shaded laneway just to look around).
Coco
Coco’s brown face reminds us of a coco puff, so that's how she got her new name. After being at the Sanctuary 6 months now she is getting calmer. You can tell this 14 year old has never been out in the big world: when you touch her and say: “forward please” she backs right into you, or jumps up in the air or kicks off to the side…everything was new and scary for her. But along came Seabiscuit and Coco stepped right up to be the nanny and babysitter when Murex needed a break. Now Coco will let you walk by her when she’s munching hay or sitting chewing her cud…making GREAT PROGRESS!
Latte
Latte is an amazing lady. To her credit she has 3 1st place awards and 1 Champion in the show ring. Here, she is the Champion Trickster–opening up the feed bins, scattering alfalfa cubes, and always ready to play with the crias. … Why was she walking around with a big piece of tape stuck to her lip? With a swish of her tail and a gleam in her eye, Latte is off to do something else! Magical.
Coral
On that same Oceanic theme, Bebe Coral (aka The Underboss) was born in the summer of 2018. No one said Murex, the 2 year old alpaca we took in, was pregnant. We have no idea who the dad was. We can not register Murex or Coral because DNA is needed, and all other relatives (except Coral’s mom, went into the freezer). Coral started off day one, at almost 18 pounds. She has a lovely personality that makes her the darling of the barn and has oodles of pretty fawn colored fiber to boot! Her origin is a mystery, but she is a gorgeous girl! Totally photogenic, camera diva! When she is off duty, she loves a good back scratch.
Seabiscuit
This time we were leaving RI, heading to SC and getting ready for more Wingman babies! (Wingman is a white, show champion with superb fiber). Seabiscuit is Murex’s 3rd and final hurrah. And knowing a bit more about alpaca genetics–lets breed a dark bay to a white…roll of the dice and Mendelian Genetics predicts a 25% chance of a white (or near-white). TA DA! With only a spot of brown, Seabiscuit is a near-white with all the right qualities on his side. He is fast like the famous race horse and is amazingly cute and fuzzy like e sea creatures known as seabiscuits. (According to some folklore, Mermaids used seabiscuits as money).
Gem-Gem
Gem-Gem is our 1st daughter from Treasure. (We name members of each family with the mom’s-name-theme). She was born in 2023 as a tiny 13.4 pounder and now, two years later, is almost the size of her Mom. Oodles of silky-soft white fiber is what she gives us too. Her dad is a former fiber-champion male and we are above-and-beyond pleased. We now have 4 babies on the ground from the same male. Each is equally spectacular. YES, they all stay at WCAS for life. Gem-Gem is serene like her mom, and we are looking forward to many years with Gem-Gem. Currently, she is her little sister Opal’s nanny and babysitter. SO AMAZING!
Rose
Rose has a great moustache and the longest eyelashes in the Sanctuary! (maybe it's her Chilean background?) When she 1st got to the farm, back in RI, she and Murex battled on-and-off for almost 3 whole days for head-of-the-herd status. (Nevermind Rose is 3 times the size of Murex)…Rose won. She kept her status until after baby Dahlia was born, but then Rose damaged her neck several months later and currently has a balance issue. Murex has HER high status back (perminantly)…And none from the 2024 Adoption Group wanted any part of the job. Rose will still have a contentious spit- off with Murex several times a week. That's ALL the lama-drama for now…no-problama!
Merry
Merry is GREAT at 2 things–getting beyond filthy and trying to kill our dog Tattie. We settled on her registered name as One-Spot-Merry. They said at AOA the name Dirty Mary was taken. ( LOL) Officially she is white, but depending on the day may have grey-brown legs or a greenish chin. Mud is what she does. Now that she is a mom, she has decided being mostly clean is a better plan! Her son Hoolie follows in Mom’s footsteps, and then some.
Muriel
Muriel and her mom Mimosa are two of the adopted-and-renamed crew. Both are fan-hogging, set-in-their-ways curmudgeons that are getting sweeter by the day! (But not less pushy at feeding time). She will be the 1st in line for snacks …not shy about that! Muriel is 15 years old.
Ms. Barley
Barley is just a tall, sweet, feminine girl. She only got a 2nd when shown but we still treat her as a champion. This 16 year-old is very immaculate and only steps briefly in the water during sprinkler times. She is really good at using her long neck to get something on the other side of the fence–Busy’s food dish, Busy’s water bucket…she’ll do anything to get his attention (LOL).
Clover
Clover just stands there sometimes, looking off into the distance. Does she hear the Ancients? Her dad was a Peruvian import. She is all Peruvian on her moms side too. At 17, she has the been-there-done-that aura, definitely an old soul. Once she got to the Sanctuary, she was renamed Clover for her understated sweetness. We love her goatee too.
Mocha
Ms Mocha is a simply sweet, mellow girl. Often she goes out to graze by herself or with her buddy Latte. She got 2 1st place ribbons in the show ring. Sweet 16 she is! We take her slow because she has a bad knee or hip. Another perfect Sanctuary candidate. We are so glad to have her.