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Camels Gone Wild

Posted by samzenpus on from the one-hump-or-two dept.

The small central Australian community of Docker River is experiencing a Camelpocalypse. Over 6,000 feral camels are destroying the town. They've overrun the airport (making emergency medical service impossible), ruined the water infrastructure, tainted drinking water, and left many residents afraid to leave home for fear of being trampled. NT Local Government Minister Rob Knight said, "They're actually coming up to the houses taking water off the overflow from the rooftop air-conditioning. This is a very critical situation out there, it's very unusual and it needs urgent action.'' At least the camels aren't encouraging kids to smoke like they do here in the US.

29 comments

  1. Camels? by rmushkatblat · · Score: 1, Informative

    Australia has camels?

    1. Re:Camels? by Ocker3 · · Score: 2, Informative

      They were imported to replace horses during Australia's settlement, much of the centre of Australia is very dry and much better suited to camels than horses. In one famous long distance race, a camel was beaten by a horse to the finish line, at which time the horse gave up and died. The camel and it's rider turned around and went back to the start line. We actually export live camels to the middle east, as we have lots of strong wild camels and there are also plans to start slaughtering them and selling them to the middle east as meat. Camel numbers in Australia are apparently growing at an exponential rate.

    2. Re:Camels? by v1 · · Score: 1

      I have a one-word solution to the problem

      camelburgers

      Round these parts, deer can start becoming a problem when there's a really good season for them. They just widen the hunting season a few weeks or a month. Problem solved. And plenty of deer jerkey to go around.

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    3. Re:Camels? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Good idea but I think you are underestimating the scale and isolation of the Australian outback. Camels are considered vermin as are ferral horses, donkey's, goats, pigs, water buffallo, deer, rabbits, cats, dogs, etc. It's already open season all year round on all of these imported critters. In other words there are too many camels and not enough people. Some (like those in the article) will end up as pet food but the camels major predator here in Oz is the diesel train, the stupid fuckers tend to run single file up the tracks insead of stepping off to one side.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    4. Re:Camels? by v1 · · Score: 1

      the stupid fuckers tend to run single file up the tracks insead of stepping off to one side.

      A lot of herd animals behave that way. I've seen numerous videos where people in savannah trucks are chasing down say, a giraffe, and can drive up right beside it and run directly beside it for miles if needed, and can just take their time to lasso it because it'll never cut away like you'd expect an intelligent animal being chased to do. Something about their instinct just drives them to run in a straight line as fast as they can, regardless of where the threat is.

      (when you see a cowboy chasing down a wild horse, you rarely if ever see the horse cut away, they just get run down and lassoed in a straight line, funny I never realized that until I thought about it just now, not sure why I never questioned that behavior before?)

      But I've never heard of them running ON railroad tracks. I wouldn't have even expected that to be possible, I have a hard time running on railroad tracks and I'm not going that fast nor do I have four feet to keep track of between the ties.

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    5. Re:Camels? by AtomicOrange · · Score: 1

      Sounds delicious... What do camels taste like anyway?

      --
      "What is there a tank on the boat? WHY IS THERE A TANK ON THE BOAT?!?" L4D2
    6. Re:Camels? by v1 · · Score: 1

      chicken

      --
      I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    7. Re:Camels? by AtomicOrange · · Score: 1

      I could only suspect as much.

      --
      "What is there a tank on the boat? WHY IS THERE A TANK ON THE BOAT?!?" L4D2
  2. Pitiful. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

    There is simply no reason, in this day and age, to be menaced by any animal large enough to shoot.

    Excuses can be made for microbes, and insects, and rats, and things; because antibiotics and poisons and stuff are actually pretty tricky; but camels?

    1. Re:Pitiful. by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      "There is simply no reason, in this day and age, to be menaced by any animal large enough to shoot."

      These people are not living in your "day and age". There are about 300 dirt poor aborigines in Docker river including women and children, between them all there would probably be a few dozen shotguns and .22 rifles that they use to put oversized lizards on the dinner table. Attacking a camel with either of those weapons would do little except piss it off.

      6000 camels in town of 300 poorly equiped natives is definitely a public menace, which is why the government are sending in proffesional shooters with better weapons and more ammo.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    2. Re:Pitiful. by phoenixdna · · Score: 1

      So why can't the aborigines take out their poison dart guns and go to work?

    3. Re:Pitiful. by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Because they're aborigines not amazonians. I've never tried to kill a Camel with a boomerang but I imagine it would be difficult.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    4. Re:Pitiful. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That depends on how hard you throw them. I know of this guy in a green tunic who could manage.

  3. Cammel sez... by gandhi_2 · · Score: 1

    Gun control FTW!

    --
    THL phish sticks
    1. Re:Cammel sez... by ILuvRamen · · Score: 1

      dude, camels aren't cheetahs. You can just punch them in the face and they'll leave. They have no horns to maul you and have to turn around to kick you. You have to be a really clumsy, slow idiot to actually get hurt from one. You just flick em on the nose and they're out of there! They HATE getting hit on the nose.

      --
      Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
    2. Re:Cammel sez... by gandhi_2 · · Score: 1

      >>dude, camels aren't cheetahs.

      No, but a camel can change it's spots.

      >>They HATE getting hit on the nose.

      Well, for the record...so do I.

      --
      THL phish sticks
    3. Re:Cammel sez... by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      There is no law in Oz against shooting a camel with a bolt action 303 or similar weapon, in fact the government encourages the practice. This is not Texas, the town is a dirt poor native settlement with very few people, there would be a few shotguns and 22's for hunting dinner but both of these weapons would do little more than panic a herd of 6000 camels, until now there was no need to spend what little money they have on more powerfull/expensive weapons/ammo.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    4. Re:Cammel sez... by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      I agree scaring one camel away is not a problem, the worst case senario is you get covered in snot. But 6000 frightened camels could really fuck up your day.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  4. I've seen this before... by DamienNightbane · · Score: 1

    Knowing Australia, this won't end well.

    1. Re:I've seen this before... by conureman · · Score: 1

      God it hurts. I laughed so hard reading that I need to go lie down now.

      --
      The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
    2. Re:I've seen this before... by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      A link from the wiki page: How we lost the emu war

      Onlookers were surprised by the emus' ability to sustain injury and keep running. Major Meredith was quoted as saying: "If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world. They could face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus....

      This is how I will now always think of emus.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    3. Re:I've seen this before... by conureman · · Score: 1

      Unlike many Americans, I have read a few accounts of a certain event at Rorke's Drift, so that evokes quite an image. Thanks.

      --
      The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
  5. Perl Gone Bad by happy_place · · Score: 1

    And here I thought this would be about perl scripts turning evil...

    --
    http://www.beanleafpress.com
  6. The Solution: by PhetusPolice · · Score: 1

    What does camel meat taste like?

    1. Re:The Solution: by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      What does camel meat taste like?

      I don't know, and I'm slightly thankful that I can't think of anyone I know who is likely to know at the moment.
      On the other hand, I can think of several people who might relish the challenge. There's a zoo a couple of hundred miles away which I think has some camels.

      Tell you what, you go and blow a camel over the weekend, and I'll round up the various bestiality homos I can think of and see if I can persuade them to go to the zoo one night.
      We can compare notes next week?

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  7. They need to modify the story by goffster · · Score: 1

    ... They are copying movies, copying music, breaking DMCA, pirating Windows ....

    And you could be sure there would be no camels left in the area after
    about 30 minutes.

  8. 19 Million dollar Camel plan? by AtomicOrange · · Score: 1

    I have a plan for how to utilize that money:

    1: Purchase numerous guns and plenty of ammunition
    2: Purchase airfare to locale with several other friends
    3: ?
    4: Profit! (Approximately 18 million dollars worth, easily)



    (3 by the way is shoot a crap load of camels)

    --
    "What is there a tank on the boat? WHY IS THERE A TANK ON THE BOAT?!?" L4D2
  9. The Man for the Job by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

    Where's Tom Selleck when you need him?

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  10. P.S. re: Zulu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If one has only seen the Michael Caine movie of that with it's cast of dozens, then I don't think that that simile can truly be appreciated.