ANIMALS EATING ADORABLY: If you live with a pup or a cat or a gecko or a guinea pig or a cockatoo or any number of sweet beasties, you know that watching them eat can be as pleasurable as any other entertainment option out there. A dog'll gnaw at a jerky treat, a kitty will bat about a piece of cat kibble, and if you've ever watched a mouse's miniature mouth take on an overly large seed, you know it is a squealable sight. And what of watching a camel have a snack, a snack delivered by your own hand? That, too, is quite the sight, to observe its jaws and teeth in action (and to see the happy, this-is-yummy look on its face). It isn't going out on any limbs to say that we probably have more chances to feed our Fidos than we do a dromedary, but that chance comes along now and then, and definitely when the Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona opens its doors to the public. The hump-tastic farm does just that, each year, during Watermelon Days, but another fruit, one that is fall-famous, comes up at the camel-cute patch each November. It's the pomegranate, the inspiration behind the dairy's Pomegranate Days, and, yes, you yourself can feed the seed-packed goodies the resident camels.
NOV. 27 THROUGH 29... are the 2015 dates, so, yes, this can definitely be in your post-Thanksgiving, get-out-of-the-house, show-the-visitors-a-good-time plans. Fresh air, some countryside, some camel rides, camel milk soaps and such for sale, and the fruit-to-camel-mouth action are all on the holiday weekend to-do roster. It's fifteen bucks for adults to get in, a bit less for members of the military and kids, and there shall be a few things happening, like face painting and birds to observe and a family circus show and such. It's a day out at a country destination, in short, and a quaint one at that. But even if you do it all, can anything quite top opening your hand, the one holding a pomegranate, before the muzzle of a grateful hump-cute new pal? As you watch him chomp, best ponder if you yourself ate your potatoes or turkey as ravenously, and adorably, on Thanksgiving. One good thing to know? This tradition has been around for over a half decade now, so if you want to add it to your family's yearly seasonal go-outs, it has proven to be a keeper.
