Camels and Snow... an unusual combination!
I can't believe I'm old enough to say what I am about to say..... but there hasn't been a storm like the Valentines Day 08 Storm for twenty-five years! (and while I'm in that mode: hey you kids ... get off my lawn!) Just playing... I'm only 46.
There are snow stories all across America this year. What makes this one astonishing is that it happened in San Diego. The Oasis Camel Dairy is located in San Diego County, eight miles North East of Ramona, twelve miles South West of Julian. We frequently see snow dusting the hills several hundred feet above our ranch and one time... we had flurries that didn't "stick", but never anything like this.
Valentine's morning was cold and cloudy. A freezing rain began to fall before 9:00. The rain would go from sleet and hale to rain and flurries. Melany called me outside to see it. We thought it did look a lot like snow.
Gil, Mel and I spent the next few hours battening down the hatches. This storm was particularly problematic. Our winter storms blow from the West. All of our animal shelters are built to protect the animals from the winter rains. This storm was blowing hard from the East.
As the minutes ticked by and our oh-so-Southern-California-winter-clothing got colder and wetter, the rain gave way to hard driving sleet and hale mixed with a few flakes.
We stayed outside through the afternoon securing shelter for everyone. All the camels where packed into the shelters. Thankfully, the big geldings where standing on the East side, big, fuzzy rear ends to the onslaught of snow and ice. The mothers and pregnant females where laying in the dry bedding on the South side, shielded by their male herd mates.
The snow continued throughout the afternoon and evening. Traffic stood still on our rural highway. The novelty of a light dusting of snow was long gone and had been covered by a thick, soft, good three inches of powdery snow.
Once the sleeting blizzard had passed and we were left with beautiful, delicate falling snow, the animals all relaxed and explored. As it turns out, camels don't mind falling snow. It is dry.
The next morning, after barely two hours of sleep (Valentine was born in the snow that night... see Februarly 24 post..) we awoke to the most amazing, white backdrop to our unusual farm. Camels, donkeys, dogs and horses played and explored in the snow. The sun came out and by the afternoon, most of the snow was gone. But what a glorious morning!
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Watch for my next story:
How do You Transport a One-Ton, Untrained Bull Camel from Indio, to Ramona?.... Very Carefully!
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