Sheep shearer Tom Reinhart isn't a warm and fuzzy kind of guy, especially when it comes to woolly creatures in need of a haircut.
"To me, it's just sheep and wool," said Reinhart, who learned to shear from an old-timer more than 40 years ago.
He visits Northcroft Farm near Pelican Rapids annually to shear Joan and Dave Ellison's 30-some sheep and an alpaca.
"When you find a good shearer you do what you can to keep them happy," said Dave Ellison.
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Reinhart works with hobby farmers and folks like the Ellisons who raise sheep for their wool. His gigs are short in both duration — shearing one animal averages three minutes — and frequency.
"There's not a lot of sheep around so there's not a lot shearers," he said.
A welder by trade, Reinhart — who lives in Cayuga, N.D. — is semi-retired. Shearing, he said, is mostly a hobby — and a way to make a little cash.
