There are investments, there are tax write-offs, and there are money-making schemes.For most people, an investment means stocks and shares, pension portfolios, unit-linked funds and the family property. Christmas tree planting, a holiday home in a tax-designated zone and a BES scheme are all in the tax deductible category, while the bankrolling of Uncle Sean's latest digital mousetrap is definitely in the realms of a long-odds, moneymaking scheme.So where do alpacas and ostriches fit in? Not even vaguely related to one another, an alpaca (a smaller, friendlier version of a llama) and an ostrich (a dim, flightless bird) are among the latest exotic and rare livestock that are attracting interest from investor/speculators worldwide.In the case of the ostrich, a number of mainly British-based investor schemes have gone sour in recent years, with breeding farms going into liquidation after relatively short periods and the unwary investors losing all or most of their funds.About three years ago, one heavily-advertised British ostrich farm operation, which attracted more than 100 Irish investors, was selling adult breeder ostriches for £10,000£15,000 each and their eggs for £1,500. This company, which kept the birds on breeder farms in Belgium and Africa, went bust leaving the hapless investors holding nothing more than the promotional videos.On the other hand, genuine ostrich farms, where genuine farmers are raising the birds for their meat, are doing well. The capital cost of setting up a flock has dropped substantially since those early days, (breeding birds cost £800 now instead of £8,000) there is an increasingly steady export market for the meat, which tastes like beef fillet. The first slaughtering plant in Ireland is to open soon near Trim, Co Meath.The glitter has gone out of ostrich speculating, but that doesn't mean there isn't another livestock speculation on the horizon: anyone for alpaca?Just 36 inches tall, and with the temperament of a gentle pony, alpacas are members of the South American llama family and were kept in the Andes not for their pack-bearing qualities, but for the quality of their fleece. Alpaca wool is softer, more lustrous and stronger than sheep wool and it is scarce.A favourite of the fashion industry, an ounce of fleece sells on the American wholesale wool market for about $5 (£3.57); an adult alpaca produces about eight pounds of fleece a year, worth about $640. Not bad for an animal that can live up to 20 years and can produce an offspring every year.South American governments have put strict export controls on alpacas and, like ostriches, the cost of buying one from an alpaca breeder farm (most are in the US, Australia or Canada) is high: between $12,500 and $40,000 for an adult female and about half that rate for a male. Coloured alpacas cost more than the more common white ones.Alpacas are now being raised on farms in England and France and schemes are appearing in which investors are being invited to visit the alpaca farm to choose their very own investment animal.(Their doe-like qualities usually mean that alpaca farmers give their animals pet names.)Those who can't manage a working holiday to the Rockies, or California or Queensland, can choose their alpaca from a beauty parade posted on the Internet. Once you sign on the dotted line, the sales patter goes, you only have to wait for those dividend cheques to start rolling in. Alpacas, like ostriches, won't always be so rare. Until the high capital cost drops and the distance involved in checking up on your investment shortens, the idea of buying an alpaca in order to make your fortune doesn't really make a lot of financial sense.The Irish Farmers Association says there are no alpacas running alongside any Irish cows or sheep yet - they co-exist quite happily and eat the same food - but they certainly wouldn't discourage Irish farmers from diversifying into genuine alpaca farming. Keeping the alpaca on the farm and out of the speculator's reach is probably the best place for it.