Ben Hur groans at Robert Oja in a pasture in Ryderwood in this photograph taken in 2010.
A discussion between Lewis County mayors and county employees working on a tourism website that may feature “oddities” of the county — the Winlock Egg and the Yard Bird, for example — brought up some sad news Friday morning at the monthly meeting.
Many of the mayors and government employees alike learned that one of area’s beloved “oddities,” Ben Hur, a camel that resided near Vader, had died.
Ben Hur lived on Bob Oja’s ranch on state Route 506 between Vader and Ryderwood from the time he was six months old, until he died in September of last year.
The couple said losing him was difficult.
Ben Hur, named for the 1959 Charlton Heston gladiator film of the same name, was about 16 years old when he died from an unknown cause.
“We really felt bad when he was gone,” Oja said “… There’s lots of people that go out to Ryderwood and what not. They really felt bad too because they really enjoyed him.”
Ben Hur often caught the attention of drivers on state Route 506 and would walk up to the fence when people stopped to see him. Oja said the horses wouldn’t even stop eating when people came by, but Ben Hur would get right in visitors’ faces.
“He could be a pill at times, but he was an affectionate fella,” Oja said.
Ben was a gift from Oja’s wife, Judy, on Christmas Eve. She got the dromedary from an exotic animal dealer based in Dundee, Oregon.
“It was quite a surprise, and that was one of the Christmases that it snowed when he came,” he said.
While camels are native to dry climates, they don’t necessarily need to live in deserts.
The long-legged, stretched-necked, hump-backed animal’s presence in rural Lewis County was definitely something Pacific Northwesterners aren’t accustomed to seeing, Oja said, which made him a bit of a local celebrity.
“They’re quite the animal,” he said. “They’re very unique in the fact that there is nothing else like them.”
