Thank you, alpacas!

The Los Angeles Times reports "a nationwide effort by alpaca breeders to help absorb some of the millions of gallons of oil that's spilled into the gulf. It will be packed into buoys and then sent out into the oil slick.

Breeders say the fabric is uniquely suited for the job and does it better than other materials.

"The alpaca fiber is a hollow fiber rather than wool or human hair that's solid fiber, so it has more space to absorb the oil."

I didn't know that yesterday when I met this recently sheared beauty on a tour of fiber producing farms east of Albuquerque.