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A Florida woman and a baby alpaca are turning heads in Fort Myers, and online (w/video)

 
Rebekah Johnson, 21, poses with the alpaca she cares for in Fort Myers. Darwin, only 5 months old, has garnered a lot of attention online. (Courtesy of Rebekah Johnson)
Rebekah Johnson, 21, poses with the alpaca she cares for in Fort Myers. Darwin, only 5 months old, has garnered a lot of attention online. (Courtesy of Rebekah Johnson)
Published July 28, 2016

In the outskirts of Fort Myers, 21-year-old Rebekah Johnson was cruising down the streets in her Honda Fit. She had music blasting — Christina Aguilera — and her back-seat companion wasn't having it.

Darwin was yelping. Loudly.

Guess that's not too surprising for an alpaca.

Johnson is used to people's stares.

"People would motion for me to take down the window," she said. "They'd ask, 'What is that?' "

Darwin would stick his head out.

She eventually made a sticker for her car door that said "Alpaca on board" so passersby would be at least slightly less confused.

She never expected to be caring for a baby alpaca. Darwin was rejected by his mother. Now her buddy, and the Tumblr blog she uses to chart his progress, has gotten a lot of attention online. He's likely the Sunshine State's most famous alpaca. The duo has appeared on The Daily Dot and photo website The Chive. His car-yelping video has more than 176,000 "notes" on Tumblr, which is a combination of "likes" and shares.

"It's super mind-blowing people are actually keeping up with this," she said.

Darwin doesn't actually belong to Johnson. The 5-month-old Suri alpaca is owned by her boss at the landscaping company where she works in Buckingham, about 30 minutes outside of Fort Myers.

But she has a way with animals — some may consider her an alpaca whisperer, or even a goat whisperer.

Her blog is actually called The Adventures of Watson." Four-legged internet heartthrob Darwin had a predecessor: a Cashmere goat.

Although Watson was also insanely adorable, he never became a viral sensation (but he did pose for fifth-grade art class one time.) He, too, was rejected by his mother and required bottle feedings.

But when Watson was about 6 months old, Johnson said, a snake likely bit him. He died shortly after. She kept up her internet musings best she could after his death. She still had a ranch full of fur balls to document. But her posts became less frequent — at least until Darwin shoved his way into her life this year.

http://theadventuresofwatson.tumblr.com/post/141158979031/he-really-hates-car-rides

Johnson and her mother, who also works for the landscaping company, didn't even know an older alpaca, Gene, was pregnant. Darwin was a surprise. And his mother wouldn't nurse him. Almost instantly, Johnson became the alpaca's designated caretaker.

"He was a scrawny, awkward looking thing," she said in a phone interview while she gave Darwin his bottle. "One ear was flopped down ... he was only 12 pounds."

He may be cute, but Johnson wants this to be clear: taking care of a baby alpaca ain't easy.

Johnson didn't take Darwin for daily car rides to and from the Buckingham ranch to her Fort Myers home because she wanted to — she did it because she needed to feed him overnight.

Until Darwin was 3 months old, he required to be bottle fed up to every two hours.

On his first night at Johnson's house, she kept him in a pen in her living room as she slept on the couch. He'd bite at her hair when he wanted food.

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When people see her videos, they may have the urge to go out and by a pet alpaca. She warns against it — not just because they're expensive to care for and time-consuming — but also because they're "herd animals" who need to socialize, she said.

She also warns that anyone who plans to get a pack of alpacas to turn a profit may want to think again.

What's the deal with the alpaca market in the United States, anyway?

It had a bit of a boom and bust. The first alpacas came to the United States in 1984 from South America. In 2001 there were 2,000 alpacas registered in the United States, according to research done by the University of California. By 2006, there were more than 86,000 — including a handful in Tampa Bay: in Odessa, Dade City and Brooksville.

People made money off breeding, the research said, because people were going a little alpaca hungry. But there isn't enough of a demand for the animal's fur for herd owners to really profit. The bubble eventually burst, and the price of alpacas has been on a steady decline.

Johnson said she enjoys the novelty of the animals. They're known to be docile and kind — though they certainly spit.

"It's been a wild and weird journey," she said. "I grew up in the suburbs with cats and dogs. I guess I upgraded to fancy goats and alpacas."

Contact Sara DiNatale at sdinatale@tampabay.com. Follow @sara_dinatale.