Owners of alpaca farm combine business with pleasure

On Foss Mountain Farm, owners Lana Nickerson and Dick Dole combine business with pleasure and enjoy the daily rewards that come with life on an alpaca farm.Spread over the side of Foss Mountain, with gorgeous views of the western Maine mountains, the 15-acre farm shows the "new face" of agriculture in New England. The eight alpacas that live on the farm are environmentally friendly to the old pastures that are undergoing a slow restoration. The land was traditionally used as a farm, but had not been used that way for many years. As a result, the pastures were quickly trying to return to forest.The alpacas gave Nickerson and Dole the mechanism to create a new kind of farm on the site of an historical one. Their alpaca business is primarily to produce offspring to sell, but the alpacas also produce wonderful, soft fleece that is used for beautiful yarns and clothing that is sold on the farm.In existence for only a year and a few months, growth is also a big part of the business plan. Four new alpaca babies, called crias, are expected this year.Nickerson and Dole both longed for the rural lifestyle offered by farming after working in the utility industry in Massachusetts for 30 years. They both had skied for years in the Mount Washington Valley and loved the landscape, so it was logical to look for land with open fields in the same vicinity. After considering raising goats, they tripped over alpacas at a county fair. Months of research later, they found a breeder who sold them their foundation herd of four female alpacas. The purchase of two males and the birth on the farm of two alpaca babies in 2002 brought the herd size to eight alpacas.The alpacas share their world with two horses, two goats, two livestock guard dogs, and a collie. In the house is Foss Mountain Ragdoll Cattery, where pedigreed Ragdoll cats lounge in comfort, watching the alpacas through the windows.Farm visits are always welcome and arrangements can be made by calling the farm at 447-6548. For more information about alpacas and the New England Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association, visit the Web site at www.neaoba.org.