Desert Hills all shook up over Elvis
by Jim Crawford

DESERT HILLS – Good news. Elvis is alive and well in Desert Hills.

OK, maybe not the Elvis of peanut butter and bacon sandwich fame, but he bears a striking resemblance.

Just kidding. No hate letters, please.

The Elvis in question is just a big ol’ gangly kid, still drinking milk and being fed by his mama.

In this case, Mama is Pam Conrad, who, along with her husband Jerry, brought Elvis the camel home from Yuma about a month ago. Since then, the couple say they’ve been having the time of their lives watching the little guy grow.

“He’s five weeks old,” Jerry Conrad said. “Since we brought him home, he’s been like a traffic stop. People are stopping out front all day long to take a look.”

Of course, you’re asking yourself: “Why?”

“We love camels,” Jerry explained. “We worked with them at our church. They use them in the Christmas programs. They’re highly intelligent, loving animals. We worked with them for about five years and just grew to love them. He’s just like a big puppy.”

The Conrads are the former owners of a buffalo named Billy Bob.

“We’re attracted to exotic animals,” Pam Conrad added. “We plan to buy some more camels in the future.”

A common misconception is that camels are contrary and hard to manage. Not so, Jerry said.

“They’re misunderstood. They’re really easier to train than a horse, in my opinion.”

Elvis’ mother wasn’t able to nurse him because of a physical ailment and her owner contacted the Conrads to see if they were interested in him.

“We got him for a lot less than he’s worth,” said Jerry. “The females can bring as much as five figures. We got him when he was a week old. Since his mom couldn’t nurse him, we have to bottle feed him four times a day. He’s probably gained 60 or 70 pounds since we got him.”

One thing Elvis has done since arriving in Desert Hills is attract attention–lots of it.

“We get at least four cars an hour,” Jerry said, “sometimes six at a time. It’s like having a speed bump right in front of our house. We even have a high school girl who works at a vet’s office come by and does his 1 o’clock feeding.”

The Conrads take the excitement in stride.

“I have so much fun with him,” Pam said. “People are just fascinated with him. The community response has been unbelievable.”

True to his namesake, this Elvis is a chick magnet, too, according to Jerry.

“The young ladies are definitely attracted to Elvis,” he said. “We don’t mind if people stop and pet him. We just ask that they don’t give him any treats; that makes it hard for us to manage him later. We want to make him people friendly. We really enjoy the people.”

“He won’t be any good to anybody if he’s not people friendly,” Pam commented.

Most days Elvis can be seen lounging around his spacious pen on the Conrad property just north of Cloud Road on 7th Avenue.

“He reaches his full growth at about six years,” Jerry said. “We’ll start to ride him when he is 2 or 3 years old. It just depends on how fast he matures.”

For now, though, Elvis is receiving visitors in his affable, good‑natured way – he doesn’t bite, spit or act rude. After all, he’s just a kid.