A new oasis: Rizzy the Camel settles into Prescott home

PRESCOTT, Wash. – Walla Walla County’s newest camelid resident is settling into his home at the corner of Hart Road and State Highway 124.

Rizzy the Camel, a 6-month-old dromedary from the middle of South Dakota, is still a little skittish as he gets used to his new location and being around people.

“He’s starting to notice people,” his new owner, Mickey Richards said. “He’s never been around people, never been handled at all.

“We’re not trying to touch him or anything yet, we’re just trying to give him space and let him build interest for us.”

Richards plans to put some donkeys in Rizzy’s pen to encourage the young camel to trust humans.

“They love people, so he’ll learn by watching them that we’re not hurting them,” he said.

Rizzy’s warming-up process is going to look a little different from that of his predecessor, Izzy, who died unexpectedly in January, because the two camels were raised differently.

“Izzy was with his mom for one month and then he was a bottle baby, so he was used to being with people right off,” Richards said, “And then when I got him, he had been raised next to an elementary school, so kids would mob him every morning and every afternoon, so he loved kids; they were his favorite.”

While there were benefits to Izzy’s early socialization with humans, there are drawbacks to that process as well. According to Richards’ research, camels that are bottle-fed tend to be more aggressive as they get older while those left with their mothers to socialize for six months tend to be more mellow in the long run.

Richards was surprised by Rizzy’s size, stating that Izzy was this big at a year and a half old.

“The guy in South Dakota, he’s got big camels,” he said.

Richards never thought he would have a white camel. In fact, he and his wife Tawnya didn’t think they would have another camel at all after Izzy’s unexpected death.

“After we lost Izzy, we kind of decided we were just going to be done with all that,” he said, “but there were so many people that would call and send pictures and tell us their stories … how can you not when Izzy made such an impact on so many people?”

In his 18 years, Izzy became the star of several events in Walla Walla and surrounding areas as well as a popular roadside attraction in Waitsburg and then in Prescott.

“We have a young man whose favorite reward for having a good week was coming out to see Izzy and feed him carrots,” Richards said. “He’s graduated high school now and got his own job, so he’s earning money now, so when we started working toward getting another camel, he came out and donated some money.”

Aside from the occasional treat like carrots and apples, camels like to eat weeds, leaves and sticks.

“They’re pretty much like horses, they’re less work than other farm animals,” Richards said. “You can have trashy feed … the less protein, the better for them, so stuff that the farmers want to burn because nobody wants to feed it to their animals is great for him.”

Too much protein is bad for a camel’s muscles and digestive system. It’s important to monitor their weight because their knees can suffer from too much strain just like any other animal.

“We feed him grass hay,” he said. “They love alfalfa but it’s way too rich, way too much protein for them. So, he’s on grass hay that’s raised by my neighbor.”

Once he is trained, Rizzy will be able to go graze in the pasture with the horses.

Some ranchers use camels to clear their pastures of weeds that are toxic for their cattle and horses because camels love weeds, and their systems are tough enough to handle them.

“It’s been interesting transitioning to Rizzy instead of Izzy,” he said, “I keep calling him Izzy. It’s brought up a lot of memories ‘cause I really miss Izzy. He was my buddy, and he was amazing.”

Despite testing, the Richardses never received any answers as to why Izzy became ill and died shortly afterward.

Rizzy’s name is a play on Izzy’s. “We wanted to keep on with Izzy’s legacy basically and build off of that,” he said.

Originally, Richards was going to add an “R” to the text on Izzy’s trailer, but the trailer is so old and run-down that it needs to be replaced with a new one that will keep Rizzy safe on his visits across the Valley.

“Camels really are a fun pet. They like people once they get used to them and they love to interact with people, and they’re super smart, much smarter than a horse or a mule,” Richards said. “We’re excited with him.”