By Paula Doran
If the Far West has its own Dr Doolittle, in our humble opinion, Petah Devine from the Silverton Outback Camels is a worthy candidate for that title.
A former policewoman who along with partner Duncan now reigns over an assortment of animals large and small, Petah has been part of the new wave of businesses creating tourism attractions of quality in our region.
A police officer for 23 years, Petah first travelled to Broken Hill with the force.
“I did two stints in Broken Hill with the police and loved it. I decided when I moved out here the second time this is my spot, I love it out here.”
In 2018 life changed. “I went out with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It wasn’t one experience, it was a build-up that just accumulates and then one day you go, ‘you know what, I’ve had enough’.
“I had some time off and was going to go back, but when it came time to return to work, I just couldn’t go back,” says Petah.
“I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do when I finished work. I pretty much sat around for a little while, feeling sorry for myself and thinking jeez, what am I going to do?
“I had a few pets, and started accumulating more pets, and that helped me get out of bed in the morning …”
When Petah and Duncan (a former mine mechanic) bought the farm in Silverton, and bought two camels as pets, it seems their fates were sealed.
Bringing back camel treks to Silverton was never the plan, she says, but the purchase of their first humped pets in 2017, sparked a seed of an idea.
“We were friends with the people who used to do the camel rides in Silverton. They suggested we think about starting up the rides again. They were still getting calls, even though they’d closed down.”
Those early days with just two camels seem a distant memory now – today the couple own 16 camels, including three very young calves.
As Petah walks into the camel paddock she points out who’s who in the Silverton ‘zoo.’
“Once you start spending time with the camels you understand what they’re like – you’ve just got to work out their boundaries, your boundaries and be smart. They’re big animals.”
There wasn’t anything hard in the transition to their new life, she says, it was just totally different.
“It’s a lot of responsibility. We’re putting people on big animals and you’ve got to be smart about it.
“Camels are beautiful animals but they’re big, they can be dangerous, you’ve just got to be aware of that. They can be quite affectionate. Once you start to spend time with them, you get to know what they’re like.
“They’re quite an intelligent animal…and they remember things. They learn quickly, and they’re very repetitious. You could put them out in the paddock for a couple of years and if they hear your voice or see you they’ll know who you are.”
But it’s not just the camels that make an impact at Petah and Duncan’s farm. While Petah says she does a headcount every day, it would be more than easy to lose track of the menagerie of dogs, goats, emus, deers, pigs, chickens, alpacas, peacocks and ostriches.
Their names roll off her tongue as she wanders around the farm…there’s Alice the camel (of course), Ying and Yang the goats, (for obvious reasons if you meet them), and the deers Vixen and Blitzen.
“I think it’s pretty cool how they can all interact. Like my ostriches can hang around when we’re saddling up the camels.
“I’ve got an emu called Toto, and when Duncan’s putting the saddles on the camels, she’ll be sitting there pecking the burrs off the camels and they’re not phased,” she says.
“The camels will be in a long string, ready to go, and the emu will be sitting at the back as if she’s a camel ready to join the ride. How often would you see that?
“My deer will sometimes come running out beside us and just go for a walk beside the camels…
“Animals that you wouldn’t think would normally interact together, all just getting pats off people or walking up to people. You could sit around all day watching them.”
Petah and Duncan are settling in and would love to get volunteers to help at the farm.
“There’re a lot of animals to feed and look after here so we’re actively looking for people to help. We’re also looking for helpers with the camel rides. In school holidays we’re booked out – every day, so ideally it would be good to have a few people trained up to help there.
“We could walk up to 18 kilometres a day during school holidays. It’s a big responsibility so you’d have to have the right person.”
