1/3/05 The Santa Ynez Valley has long attracted folks for its enjoyably mild climate. Animals seem to like the weather here, too, as ranches for all types of livestock dot the area.

Last week, everything on the farm paused when I learned that we were getting alpacas. I constructed a three-walled shed using ...

HOOD RIVER, Ore. -- Standing in the green grass, with Mount Hood's white snowcapped peak on the horizon, it's hard for Marcus and Cathryn Whitman to imagine life any other way: the peace, the quiet -- ...

Alpacas are cute. They're soft. They're quiet and gentle — for the most part. And raising them is also the easiest way to earn the federal tax advantages set aside for raisers of commercial livestock, ...