Ollie sighting, while on a Fall foliage run, yesterday. Ollie the Camel lives at the Round Barn Merinos Farm on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh, VT. with a flock of sheep and an alpaca. With two humps, the Bactrian camel, is part of what Judith Giusto, owner of Round Barn Merinos, a farm and shop in the small, northern Vermont village, calls her “fiber zoo.” Judith obtained Ollie in September 2002, when he was just two months old. The down from Ollie’s coat, along with the fibers from merino sheep are used to create sweaters, scarves, afghans and many other pieces of warm clothing.
Ollie was bred in Wisconsin. Bactrian Camels originate in the steppe country of Eurasia and Mongolia. There are more domesticated Bactrian Camels than wild Bactrian Camels. For a while there was some concern that they were extinct in the wild.
