# What D'you Mean It's Easy? (or 'A Dummies Guide to Loading a Camel on a Truck')



## Chris of Arabia (Feb 21, 2008)

I took another trip to the camel souk this morning. Better light and this time I went into the heart of the main area where there is much more to be seen - in this instance, loading a very large male camel onto a flatbed...

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Quite easy really...


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## LaFoto (Feb 21, 2008)

With that sneer he was giving you it was to be expected he would not let them load him EASILY! Crane, rope, winch and whatnot ... he is set on giving them a hard time, and you his biggest, dirtiest laugh for your attempts to capture it all on ... erm ... chip/card/whatever.  What a wonderful series! So sharp, crystal clear and great fun to look at!

And boy, I didn't know a camel had such FANGS!!!!!


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## Antarctican (Feb 21, 2008)

Yikes, that is one unhappy camel being loaded in (can't say I blame it, though).  Who knew that an animal that usually looks rather sweet or silly could also look so evil and mad (like in #6 and 7).  What a production to get it in the truck! (hobble it, tie straps around it, then lift it with a block and tackle.)  How long did it take to get it in the truck?

The souk looks like a fascinating place.


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## Big Mike (Feb 21, 2008)

I didn't know they had such sharp looking teeth...that thing could take a hand off.  Yikes.


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## spiffybeth (Feb 21, 2008)

what an interesting series!!

i watched a show on camels one day. what strange creatures. and their tongues that they flop around made me laugh hysterically!

5 makes me laugh because it looks like he's smiling.

7 looks ferocious. 

10 is great because its so odd. 

i could comment on them all!

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## Chris of Arabia (Feb 21, 2008)

Did I mention having to wipe camel spit off my lens?


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## Antarctican (Feb 21, 2008)

^^^ I'll bet! In photo#3 it looks like he's aiming a lugie right at you!


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## Ajay (Feb 21, 2008)

Holy camel, I'm gonna have camel nightmares tonight for sure!  Great series - I never knew they could look so ferocious.


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## abraxas (Feb 21, 2008)

great shots.


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## Rick Waldroup (Feb 21, 2008)

Boy, you know, camels are really some funky looking animals.

This is a really excellent series of photos.  Well done.


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## Lyncca (Feb 21, 2008)

Wow! That is one pissed off camel!  Great shots


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## kundalini (Feb 21, 2008)

Wow, great series.

I have loaded horses, cows, bulls, hogs, goats and mules onto trucks and trailers.  For some reason, four legged animals don't care too much for being transported.  As I was scrolling back and forth through the photos one word kept popping in my mind............ramp.


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## leila (Feb 21, 2008)

SO COOL!!! 
Thanks for Sharing!


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## Spidy (Feb 21, 2008)

What is in his mouth in 8? He looks like he's in a lot of pain in #9   

Nice clear shots, thanks for sharing!


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## bryan_h (Feb 21, 2008)

Awesome series!! Thanks for sharing. I never knew camels had such teeth!!:stun::stun: Remind me not to pet camels anymore!


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## Antithesis (Feb 21, 2008)

Omg, that thing has dragon teeth. Cool set, although I will never look at a camel the same way again. Looks more like a man-eating monster with those teeth.


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## Chris of Arabia (Feb 22, 2008)

kundalini said:


> Wow, great series.
> 
> I have loaded horses, cows, bulls, hogs, goats and mules onto trucks and trailers.  For some reason, four legged animals don't care too much for being transported.  As I was scrolling back and forth through the photos one word kept popping in my mind............ramp.



They are much too tall to get them to walk onto a truck. They have to hobble them as they very much have a mind of their own and you really don't want a camel deciding it's time to get out when you're on the road. Lifting them on and off is by far the safest way of doing it. Most are really docile during the process, but not this one!


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## Chris of Arabia (Feb 22, 2008)

Spidy said:


> What is in his mouth in 8? He looks like he's in a lot of pain in #9
> 
> Nice clear shots, thanks for sharing!



It's part of his throat, believe it or not. It surprised me to see it as well. Each time he roared at us, this great balloon like thing would blow out and spit would going flying everywhere.

I don't think he's in pain, as they didn't do anything to him other than restrict his movements. What we did get told was that this one was a bit of a coward and was basically frightened, hence his reaction to the whole process. The guys putting him on the truck weren't taking to many chances with him and kept themselves well clear of the business end of things - nasty teeth to be sure and in this climate you really don't want to get bitten, any infection that set in would cause some serious medical issues.


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## ScottyS (Feb 23, 2008)

That thing in its throat in 8 makes it look like its chewing on a basketball.

Great pics, musta been cool to see.  The guy in 1 looks like hes got some fresh blood on him, anything to do with the whole camel loading procedure?


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## Chris of Arabia (Feb 23, 2008)

ScottyS said:


> That thing in its throat in 8 makes it look like its chewing on a basketball.
> 
> Great pics, musta been cool to see. The guy in 1 looks like hes got some fresh blood on him, anything to do with the whole camel loading procedure?


 
It was a fairly lively affair and at various points had all of us jumping clear of this camel that was busy thrashing round in front of us.

I'm pretty sure it was blood, I noticed it at the time, but wasn't able to work out where it had come from. One thing we did notice was that quite a few of the animals seem to collect assorted knocks, particularly round the callouses thy get on their knees. One of the farmers' (Abdulrahman) had a large male that insisted on chewing its knee everytime it got sexually frustrated - which included whilst we were there. At the time I asked about the injury and how it acquired it, about 10 minutes later it proceeded to demonstrate.


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## kidchill (Feb 24, 2008)

Ok, that was AWESOME!!  I'm one of those TLC/Discovery/NatGeo freaks and that was definitely great to see.  Very sharp shots and great subject...That's NOT something I see everyday!!


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## CanadianMe (Feb 24, 2008)

Great set of photos. Interesting.


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