Alpacas ?

Wingnut · Jul 19, 2002

well, of course they're easy to raise and they can make you money .... as long as you're organizing pack tours of the Andes.
On the other hand ... if you plan to make sweaters .... hmmm .... can you buy them for a buck? Got a spare spinning wheel and some knitting machines? Got a guaranteed market for the fiber?
Some other exotic might be a better idea ... thought of Hippos? Nobodies farming them yet ... you could get in on the ground floor!

wasabi · Jul 20, 2002

I hear gator farms make money if you are looking for a thrilling endeavor!

Wingnut · Jul 20, 2002

I hear gator farms make money if you are looking for a thrilling endeavor! 

but you have to make sure when you hand out the food that they don't take the hand too! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

DavidInNH · Jul 20, 2002

thought of Hippos? Nobodies farming them yet ... you could get in on the ground floor!

Well....A friend of my dad's worked for one of the exotic game ranches in the Texas Hill Country - I think it was the YO. They had a pair of Hippos. I don't remember what started the trouble, but they tranked the male and it died. The female went kind of nuts and was pushing over out-buildings and taking out sections of fences. She would just run right through the fence and the posts would come along for the ride. They finally shot her. They butchered her - involved a chain hoist and a lot of work. I'm not sure, but I heard it tastes like chicken. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif OK - I made that last bit up, but the rest is true.

David (got to get me one of those cool signatures)

Bird · Jul 20, 2002

I think it was the YO

Nice little ranch, and apparently getting smaller all the time. When I was there in the late '70s, they told me they had sold off some land and only had 78,000 acres left in the main ranch and 18,000 at another place, but according to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yoranch.com/RANCH/>their web site</A>, they've now down to only 40,000 acres.

DavidInNH · Jul 20, 2002

they've now down to only 40,000 acres

Thats too bad. It looks like the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.king-ranch.com/index_ie.htm>King Ranch</A> is still, well, king. Its 825,000 acres and claims to be larger than Rhode Island.

David

BOOMERANG · Jul 21, 2002

Thanks for all the advice. I was just looking for a way to get out of mowing 10 acres. I thought maybe I could make a buck or two at the same time. From what I've read, I plan to stay clear of them. I had NO IDEA they cost that much up front !!! $10,000 will buy a lot of diesel fuel for the tractor !

Wingnut · Jul 22, 2002

sheep!
keeps the grass mowed, "green" and cost a heck of a lot less than alpacas.
Town in Alberta where I used to work would actually hire a local sheepherder in the summer .... provided the public with a diffeent view than tractor cutting the grass along the right-of-ways and did a great job on the grass ....