Feeding, Sharing, Peaceful Baba

Peaceful Baba was hand-raised from birth because his mother didn't take to him quickly enough. She was young, herself, and not emotionally ready for mother-hood. Her new baby both entranced and terrified her. So Peaceful Baba grew up with humans. Consequently, Peaceful developed a variety of traits that he might not have had he been raised by a wise camel Mom. We did our best. He was my first child :)

Today, at about seven years of age, Peaceful Baba tends to be more complicated around food than the other camels. He likes to dominate the feeding trough, whereas camels in general are great at sharing food within the herd. Sometimes Peaceful is fine and content to share. But more often than not he gets into barking, grimacing, shrieking and spitting at the other camels to get them to retire from the trough. He's discovered that if he plasters the grain in the trough with his regurgitated cud the other camels' interest in dinner evaporates and he gets the whole lot to himself. The other camels also just get tired of Peaceful Baba's drama, and persistence, so they just move away, letting him have at it all.

When all the camels ran together we fed them their grain ration in four or five separate bowls and troughs. So everyone got their share no matter what mood Peaceful was in. But when we recently moved them into two groups Peaceful, Jelly and Muffin ended up with one trough between them.

With one trough it has become more important for Peaceful to out-grow some of his anti-social leanings. We've been approaching the issue gently, steadily, carefully, slowly letting Peaceful know that his smart eating habits are inappropriate... giving him the opportunity to take our cues and shift his behaviour without us having to get tough. He'd clearly come to know that his food hogging was not appreciated, but he'd only partially let it sink in.

I wanted to be sure that when I got tough, if I had to, he knew exactly what for. I also wanted to apply just the right energy, not more or less than was needed, when I was ready to stand my ground on this issue.

Yesterday the time came. He was particularly obnoxious right from the start. I gave him a moment to calm down and then sent him away. I sent him away a good distance while inviting Jelly and Muffin to eat. Peaceful did not like this. He pulled his lips back exposing all his teeth and the insides of his villi covered cheeks. Growling in high pitched tones he started approaching. I headed toward him, forceful in my energy. He moved back again, lips flickering. He wasn't being aggressive at all, just protesting this new situation. I held him there, under the large oak tree, with my gaze. He kept moving one foot forward, his lip flickering at me. I'd lean toward him, holding him in check, until he stepped back.

After a minute or so I moved further away, still holding Peaceful in place with my attention and gaze. I moved over on the other side of the happily feeding Jelly and Muffin, about 30 feet from Peaceful. At this particular meal, because he was so riled up, Peaceful wasn't going to get any grain at all.

Each time he made a move toward the trough I leant back toward him with a "haa!", and a stare... Jelly and Muffin cautiously kept an eye on the two of us. Jelly would lift his head to look at me, then at Peaceful and back at me before burying himself in the trough again, clearly appreciative of the situation. And eventually Peaceful resigned himself to his position.

After the meal, when the three of them had moved over to the hay, I went to Peaceful. I wanted to connect and give him a pat and a hug. He was very receptive, with no carry over from the earlier interactions. Things felt good between us.

The next day, when the grain went into the trough, Peaceful barked a little again so I backed him up a few feet, waited, then invited them all in. Jelly and Muffin dove into the trough, while Peaceful held back, looking at me with a little uncertainty. I stepped back and guided him forward with a soft tone. He brought his head down smoothly, and quietly, alongside Jelly. I bent forward and praised him, scratched behind his ears, praising him some more.

It's going to take some further work with Peaceful but the standard for him has been set now, and he knows it. He clearly appreciates something about it, but is not yet convinced that it's all good. Another good, very important, result of this process is that Peaceful Baba's respect for me is deepening through my gentle, graduated, firmness.

When Peaceful was still a 'pup', yet another military crisis had just broken out in the world and Adi Da Samraj named the young camel, "Peaceful Baba". This camel has his rough edges, but he much prefers the peaceful way once he is shown it.