Camels have always struck me as stroppy beasts ....
... It may be the bottom lip stuck out, or the protruding teeth that makes me think that.
Then there is the reputation for spitting .... but whatever, I have always assumed that if they could talk, it would be bolshie trash talk. So when I read a number of stories from Russia about errant camels, I couldn't help think that maybe I was right in my anthropomorphism all along.
The first story came via a YouTube video of a camel, refusing to back down or move over when challenged by a Russian train .... the stroppy animal (who after all is the largest beast on the steppes of the Russian-Kazakh border in the Astrakhan Region), ignored the angry hoots from the trains horns, and the not inconsiderable shouts from its drivers, and held up the Volga Railways train for over an hour.
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| Bolshie Camel Looking Down Its Nose .... |
... It may be the bottom lip stuck out, or the protruding teeth that makes me think that.
Then there is the reputation for spitting .... but whatever, I have always assumed that if they could talk, it would be bolshie trash talk. So when I read a number of stories from Russia about errant camels, I couldn't help think that maybe I was right in my anthropomorphism all along.
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| Stroppy Camels A Rail Hazard In Astrakhan ..... |
The first story came via a YouTube video of a camel, refusing to back down or move over when challenged by a Russian train .... the stroppy animal (who after all is the largest beast on the steppes of the Russian-Kazakh border in the Astrakhan Region), ignored the angry hoots from the trains horns, and the not inconsiderable shouts from its drivers, and held up the Volga Railways train for over an hour.
Such was the beasts contempt for the large train, that it trotted sedately with its back to the train, not even bothering to look back. Apparently this wasn't actually an isolated incident, as an increasing number of wild and domestic animals have been wandering on to the tracks in the region.
This fact may explain why shortly afterwards there was another camel story from the Astrakhan Region .... apparently Yuri Serebryakov, a pensioner, released his 80-strong herd of camels into the area around his home, and two other local villages (Oranzherei, Fyodorovka, and Ninovka), causing chaos. He said that did so because he realised that his age, and finances, now prevented him from taking care of them anymore.
The animals largely avoid humans if shooed away, but will raid gardens for camelthorns (their favourite food and abundant in the area around the villages), as well as fruit and vegetables, when there is no one to stop them. They also show no fear of children, so won't move away from them, so children have to come indoors when the camels approach.
As the camels have bred, the mothers have become aggressive if their calves are threatened ... one villager said that "If you look one directly in the eyes… the animal chases you, and you have to run away." ... and to cap it all, the camels have a habit of relieving itches from the summer mosquito bites, by rubbing up against anything handy ... trees, telephone poles, water and gas pipes ... whatever.
However this behaviour has resulted in gas and water connections being broken by camel rubbing, and there is also a traffic problem as the camels use the roads to get about. So not surprisingly, the villagers have filed a complaint with regional prosecutors for help, but with little official response apart from some small fines from the district council ...
... however the story has attracted the local TV to report on it.
Mr Serebryakov is apparently defiant and unrepentant ..... claiming that he is not to blame for the surrounding villages' abundance of the camelthorns, and that the gas and water pipes should not have been built so close to the ground, and even that his neighbours' fences are not built sturdily enough .... he even hopes that the publicity will allow him to sell his herd for good money ... "No, I won't give them away. It's too late for that," he reportedly said.
He has been fined a total of $164 (£125) so far this year by the local council ... but he has ignored them, and done nothing about his wayward camel herd. Makes you glad you only have to deal with a broken fence panel or overhanging tree branch doesn't it .....
This fact may explain why shortly afterwards there was another camel story from the Astrakhan Region .... apparently Yuri Serebryakov, a pensioner, released his 80-strong herd of camels into the area around his home, and two other local villages (Oranzherei, Fyodorovka, and Ninovka), causing chaos. He said that did so because he realised that his age, and finances, now prevented him from taking care of them anymore.
The animals largely avoid humans if shooed away, but will raid gardens for camelthorns (their favourite food and abundant in the area around the villages), as well as fruit and vegetables, when there is no one to stop them. They also show no fear of children, so won't move away from them, so children have to come indoors when the camels approach.
As the camels have bred, the mothers have become aggressive if their calves are threatened ... one villager said that "If you look one directly in the eyes… the animal chases you, and you have to run away." ... and to cap it all, the camels have a habit of relieving itches from the summer mosquito bites, by rubbing up against anything handy ... trees, telephone poles, water and gas pipes ... whatever.
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| Camels and Traffic Cause Problems. |
However this behaviour has resulted in gas and water connections being broken by camel rubbing, and there is also a traffic problem as the camels use the roads to get about. So not surprisingly, the villagers have filed a complaint with regional prosecutors for help, but with little official response apart from some small fines from the district council ...
 |
| TV Reports Found Mr Serebryakov Unrepentant ..... |
... however the story has attracted the local TV to report on it.
Mr Serebryakov is apparently defiant and unrepentant ..... claiming that he is not to blame for the surrounding villages' abundance of the camelthorns, and that the gas and water pipes should not have been built so close to the ground, and even that his neighbours' fences are not built sturdily enough .... he even hopes that the publicity will allow him to sell his herd for good money ... "No, I won't give them away. It's too late for that," he reportedly said.
He has been fined a total of $164 (£125) so far this year by the local council ... but he has ignored them, and done nothing about his wayward camel herd. Makes you glad you only have to deal with a broken fence panel or overhanging tree branch doesn't it .....
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