On April 26, 2012 by Daycations & Destinations
Mother-daughter team, Linda and Liz Mitchko are the proud, and busy, owners of Whirlwind Ranch ? one of the largest alpaca herds in the state. Some of their alpacas are multiple champions while others are pet quality. Each year, thousands of guests of all ages visit the ranch just outside of Lebanon.? Visitors are welcome by appointment. Call (417) 533-5280 or e-mail info@whirlwindranch.com. Whirlwind Ranch offers special activities for young children and hosts their annual open house the first Friday through Sunday in November.
The ranch has an education center with a touchable fiber display, a gift shop and benches outside the nursery area to watch the young alpacas play. Since 1997 the crias, or ?Itty-Bitties? as they are known at the Whirlwind Ranch have been named according to a contest theme. Entries can be submitted online at www.whirlwindranch.com. A prize is awarded to the winner and past themes include game shows, cars, stars and constellations, volcanoes, foreign cities, Native American Indian tribes, hotel chains, Shakespeare and WW2 aircraft nose art.
In 2009, Whirlwind Ranch had a rare set of twins born. ?It?s put us on the map,? said Linda. ?It?s really a cause for celebration,? Liz said. ?And then some,? added Linda. One twin weighed 9 pounds, the other 12. Ideal birth weight for a single cria is 15 to 20 pounds. The twins thrived as their mother never had any problem feeding them.
Each alpaca has a distinguishable feature with different color noses or toes, or eyes can be different colors or shapes. Their ears have different fibers or different colors. The most obvious difference can be the fleece color and top hair style. Some alpacas have nicknames. One keeps his head in the hay bunk so much that his top hair always stands straight up. He?s Don King. Another one turns his head sideways like Stevie Wonder. One white alpaca with an exceptionally wild crop of top hair is as Alice Cooper.
Native to the mountains of South America where temperatures can get below freezing for weeks, alpacas have adapted to the southern Missouri terrain at Whirlwind Ranch. Standing on top of the hill under a tree near the nursery on a 90-degree day, the air is cooled with a breeze coming up from the valley below. Before the barn was built, Liz said another breeze would come over the opposite ridge. That?s how the ranch got its? name. ?We always had a whirlwind going here,? said Liz.
Alpacas live six to seven years in the wild or 15 to 20 years in captivity. ?Here, our worst predators are stray dogs, stupid people, weather,? said Liz. ?But we do have bobcats around here.? A pair of Great Pyrenees joined the ranch after losing a newborn to a bobcat. Liz said the dogs are just as popular as the alpacas.
As members of the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association, the Mitchkos have been instrumental in promoting the breed. In 2004, they organized the first area alpaca show, the MOPACA Invitational Alpaca Show, at Lebanon?s Cowan Civic Center. It was first animal show held at the facility and sold out before it opened. The show was so big that it had to be moved to a bigger venue the next year. Liz now coordinates Fiber ?U? each July in the Cowan Civic Center promoting fiber arts education.
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