I went for a two day interview in the heart of the desert to be a camel trainer/trail guide. Haha, this guy puts me on a big ole camel & says, "ride for a mile & then come back". I'm like "Huh"? So I ask my camel to go & she does, for a few hundred feet before deciding that this is way too far from the ranch. I'm going, gee up camel..camels going,nah uh honey. So I dig my heels in like on a horse & she....LIES DOWN. Oh the horror! I was so traumatized Turns out that this camel hadn't been trained yet to be ridden out alone & with me giving her confusing signals, she decided I was a pushover I didn't ride anymore camels out of the ranch but I was put in charge of breaking in a 4 year old called Petra who should have been called Petrafied. The most pathetic camel on god's earth. She's been treated right & never abused but after been injected for mange on my first day there, she decided that sitting down was a bad idea & spent half a mile crying & whining at every step she took after I gently asked her once to lie down. Everyone says camels are smart. I DISAGREE! Any animal worth it's oats settles down once it sees you wont hurt it. NOT A CAMEL! These camels are so well treated here, never rough handled, raised with love, living the good life with little work & more than 2 years maternity leave each pregnancy. Yet, most are afraid. I can't touch almost any of them on the face & my camel Petra, still cries with fear if I so much as touch her. stupid creatures, they are totally antisurvival & common sense. Anyway, I seem to be able to work with them well & use gentle methods so I am determined to get these wretched creatures to stop being afraid of their shadows for no good reason. End of rant.ps, hold thumbs for me, I'm fairly sure I got the job.
Petrafied!!! LOLOLOLOLOL She is appropriately named after the city of Petra! What a marvelous post. I have trained horses and they never acted like that!! I hope you get the job and keep us posted on camel training.
Yeah, I've trained horses for 10 years & been around them & riding all my life. Never had any animal, equine or not, continue to be so head shy & scared after I've taken so much time to settle & desensitize them. The most that I could get from this camel was that it didn't cry in terror with every brush stroke & touch but an hour later, she was back to her crying This is not a wild animal. She was born & raised in the Bedouin tents & never mistreated. I've trained wild horses that never had a hand on them & I've had them brushing, picking up feet & being ridden around in 3 days. This camel took me under a fence on 2 legs when I tried that stunt. All I was doing was stroking her shoulder to desensitize her while sitting on her back with her hobbled & lying down. The sitting on her she didn't mind but the touching of the shoulder almost made her kill us. If I didn't have hands, we would get along famously but when she sees my hands, she wants to die & just wont desensitize. They are all like that so it's not bad treatment for sure.
We raise alpacas (an hopefully llamas soon). They're camelids, too and they do.not.like.hands! They'll come up and nuzzle, but if the hands come out....they're gone! Camel riding is fun, but I think the training would be frustrating.
I wonder why they don't like hands? And, I'm afraid to ask, but exactly what does a camel like in the way of affection from a human? This is completely out of my area so I'm just curious. Good luck to the OP, anyway...
They are very vocal so where a horse would roll it's eyes at you, a camel will cry. It doesn't mean that they are more scared, they are just more vocal about it. They cry for the tiniest thing too-a horse would look at you nervously, a camel will cry. They don't like being touched or getting affection. Maybe they would appreciate being given food but that would be dangerous to do as they might get pushy. They are especially head shy so the neck isn't a bad place to touch them.
I have a friend that has trained her llamas for pulling carts and packing. She shears them, and spins the wool into yarn. Her animals have been in parades and demonstrations all over the area. They used to ride in the back of her van, now she has a trailer that she hauls them in. The reason for the trailer? She got tired of the moaning and whining that goes on, the whole time they are traveling. Her llamas lead perfectly on halters, yet the first thing she tells people when she introduces them is, "don't touch their heads, they don't like that. Petting on the neck is fine, but keep your hands away from their faces." I wonder what it is about camellids and being head shy? Best of luck with your new adventure. Years ago, I heard a comment made about camels; perhaps you can enlighten me on it. "There's no such thing as a wild camel. But, there's no such thing as a tame one, either."
You have quite a collection of hairless critters pictured on your website! I am sure that cuts down on the vacumning.
