Carides' farm a 'must stop' for camel-watchers

• The three camels liveon the 50-acre farm with nine minute donkeys and 20 horses.
• A foaming camel usually means it is excited.
• Camel fur is a highly regarded source material for woven goods.

It's always hump day at Juan and Toni Caride's farm near Felton.

That's where Bubbles, Chocolate and Batman – three dromedaries, commonly known as one-humped camels – live. And for Toni Caride, who's raised them since they were babies, they've become like family.

"They've got really nice personalities," Caride said of her three camels. "They're loveable. They like to be with you and interact with people. They like that a lot."

Although one-humped camels are normally associated with the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, they are in many places, according to Bill Rivers, a camel trainer out of Pipe Creek, Texas.

"They're all over the United States," Rivers said, adding many people have them as pets or entertainment. "In my case, I train them for the movies for many, many years."

Rivers owns Movieland Animals, whose animals have been featured in such films as Scorpion King, Ace Ventura and Dude Where's My Car?

Camels also can take a lot of heat, as well as cold, so living in the Mid-Atlantic is not a problem for them.

One might wonder how these three camels came to central southern Kent County.

The idea of owning camels was Juan Caride's.

"My husband just thought it would be neat to get a camel and he bought Batman," she said. "He was about a week old when we got him and we felt that he was lonely, so he said I better get a couple more for him. So we went and found two females that were the same age and we got those for him."

That would be Bubbles, who got her name from her seemingly cheery disposition, and Chocolate, who got her name because of the darker coat. Batman's monicker came from the dark mask of fur around his eyes when he was born.

The females are half sisters. Neither is related to Batman.

Camels usually show no signs of territoriality. It's a good thing as these three camels live peacefully on the 50-acre farm, along with nine minute donkeys and 20 horses. In addition to owning Dover Jewelry and Pawn Exchange in Dover, the Carides breed quarter horses.

The camels are already broken, so once they get saddles the dromedaries will be ready to ride.

"Hopefully they'll have some babies some day and we can raise some more babies because they are the cutest little things in the world," Caride said.

And there might be an addition on its way, as Caride believes Bubbles might be pregnant. But don't expect to see any baby camels running along soon as the gestational period is 15 months.

These camels were originally purchased in Oklahoma, where the Carides owned property before coming to Delaware, her home state. Since arriving on their farm off Indian Point Road, the camels have been visited by many curious people.

"Constantly," Caride said about people parking their vehicles on the narrow road. They had to put up gates because several people were just driving onto their property.

Caride got a visit from the SPCA after someone reported seeing a camel foaming. While this is something to be concerned about in other animals, a foaming camel usually means it is excited. After the SPCA agent checked on the animal, she wanted her picture taken with them.

If by chance you think you recognize Batman, that's because he appeared on the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, where the show's star bottle-fed Batman. The episode originally aired in 2010.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.