My Town Monday: Oasis Camel Dairy Revisited

Guess what I did???

Yup. Yesterday, DH, Child #4 and I drove to the Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona, CA. It was the one evening in July that the dairy farm was open to the public.

Meet Sampson, a 3 year old, 700 pound male. He'll be mature at 6 years at which point he'll weigh about 1500 pounds. Sampson's one of 21 (hmmm...I think I got that number right!) camels on this 43-acre ranch. Sampson is short for his age. He was rejected by his mother at birth. He's been fixed. Male camels are snipped at about one year.

Other trivia: Bull camels rut in the winter, beginning about November. Romeo, the bull at the dairy, likes to take care of business about 2 A.M. Camels are very noisy with lots of yelling and screaming. The Rieglers, the dairy owners, let their neighbors know that it's "that time of the year," so that there are no worries about what's going on down at the ranch. What else? Apparently, Romeo is very popular with the females.

A little more trivia: Camel yarn sells for about $40 an ounce.


This is the back end of a pregnant camel. Camels gestate for 13 months! Yowzer! And they lactate for 18 months.

And here's some camel speak for you: The pregnant female's raised tail says to the male: "Go away! I'm pregnant. And I am not the least bit interested in fun times with you."

And from the back end of a nursing male, here's some more camel speak: In this case, the raised tail means, "Yay, the milk is here!"

Admit it! You were so hoping I'd snap a shot of CAMEL POOP. Next to a nickel (the only change I had) for perspective.

Yes, I did it! I rode a camel. Child #4 (at the front) talked me into it. It was VERY bumpy. I would never make it as a Bedouin.

Thank you, Nancy and Gil Riegler, for a great and informative evening.

(I'm a little appalled at how frumpy I look. That hat, while I love it, is doing me no favors! Neither are the capris. Or the t-shirt.)

The second I hear, I will inform you guys of the date Dirty Jobs will air the Oasis Camel Dairy segment on TV. It was shot back in February.

FINALLY....A GIVEAWAY!! I bought a bar of pomegranate-scented camel milk soap. Just for you guys. Well, for one of you guys! The soap was made at the dairy. Leave a comment by this Friday at midnight Pacific time. Child #4 will pick a name from a bowl. The soap's supposed to be great for your skin. It certainly smells good.

Clair Dickson (Thanks, Clair!) set up a very adorable My Town Monday blog with links to all the participants. Please hop on over and check out everyone else's MTM posts.

My Town Monday: Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona, CA

There are A LOT of fun things to do in San Diego. A LOT. Some, like the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld, everybody knows about. Some, though, are a little off the beaten path.

Like the Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona.

You may have heard of Ramona on the news. It's where the Cedar Fire, one of our largest wildfires, began in October 2003. What else? James Cagney owned a bunch of land in Ramona. As in 900+ acres. And the town got its name from the Indian maiden in Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona. Ramona is about 37 miles northeast of downtown San Diego.

Okay. Back to the Camel Farm. I've lived in San Diego for a little over, ahem, 20 years. And I've NEVER been to the camel dairy. BUT, the next monthly tour is July 11, and I'm so there along with at least a couple of my children.



Gil Riegler and Nancy Kobert-Riegler run the 34-acre dairy, which, by the way, is the ONLY camel dairy in the entire USA.

Some trivia about the dairy and/or camels (in no particular order):

-Camels live to be about 50 years old.
-Camels have THREE eyelids to help keep the dessert sand out of their eyes.
-Gil was actually in the Israeli military and rode camels with the Bedouin.
-There are about 18 camels at the dairy.
-You can rent a camel from the dairy for a party or Nativity scene.
-Contrary to popular belief, camels really don't do a lot of spitting.





Camels produce rich milk that can be fed to foals and crias (baby llama) who are sick or injured. Camel's milk soap is full of vitamin C and is great for sensitive skin. You can buy it at the dairy or order it online (website link below).

Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel's DIRTY JOBS shot a show last Feb. at the Oasis Camel Dairy!! Here's a link to Nancy's blog post about that very cool event.

Here's the website for the Oasis Camel Dairy.

Travis Erwin has stepped down as our My Town Monday leader. Although I'm sure he'll be back with future MTM posts because who can resist the allure of My Town Monday?!

Clair Dickson (Thanks, Clair!) set up a very adorable My Town Monday blog with links to all the participants. Please hop on over and check out everyone else's MTM posts.


Sources:
http://www.ramonajournal.com/default.asp?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramona,_California
http://www.blendradioandtv.com/Ramona_CA/index.htm
http://www.sdjewishjournal.com/stories/xarchive.php?id=578
http://www.bloggersbase.com/articles/lifestyle/travel/oasis-camel-dairy-ramona-ca/ (including photo credits for all but the top pic)