OREGON CITY -- Clackamas County firefighters have revived one cat and five dogs after rescuing them from burning homes. They've pulled a cow from a well. They've pulled a horse from a creek.



Now they can add a camel to the list.



Moses, a 1,200- to 1,500-pound Bactrian camel (that's the two-hump kind) got himself stuck in a sinkhole on his owners' rural Oregon City property late Tuesday. Mike and Kim Dilworth, who've owned Moses since he was just weeks old, could see only the animal's head sticking out of the mud.



They tried pulling him out on their own, using a 4-wheel drive Kawasaki Mule but Moses didn't budge. His long, skinny legs were deep in the mud. The normally mellow camel's bellowing could be heard across the Dilworth's property.



About 9:45 p.m., the couple called 9-1-1. Soon, seven firefighters with Clackamas County Fire District No. 1 descended on the 10-acre property, where the family also tends a small herd of goats, sheep, chickens and a pot-bellied pig named Sonny. But the hole was in rough terrain. And it was dark. Fire officials decided they couldn't safely use heavy equipment to extricate Moses. They'd have to use their hands.



The firefighters dug around Moses – who continued to voice his distress – so they could slip thick straps under the animal's belly and pull him out. It was tricky work that took hours, said firefighter Steve McAdoo, who help light the work area with a flashlight.



The firefighters – and the Dilworths – worried Moses had broken a leg.



"The problem is the legs on this animal are like 4 or 5 feet long and he is down in the hole and his legs have sunk into the hole," McAdoo said. "They are thin. They are like little sticks and they are all the way into the mud.



"It was hard work lifting and digging, lifting and digging," he said.



Meanwhile, the Dilworths comforted their beloved pet. They soothed him by rubbing his head, kissing his nose and assuring him he'd be OK. "Calm down," Mike Dilworth told his camel. "You're doing good, you're doing good."



"They did great," McAdoo said. "They were treating it like you would have thought your kid was in the hole."



The Dilworths consider Moses – one of two camels they own – a member of the family. For the first year of the camel's life, the couple, who have two young daughters, fed him lamb's milk from a bottle three times a day. Kim Dilworth sang Christian hymns to him as he drifted to sleep.



They bought Moses and his brother, Bethlehem, for live Nativity displays at their home and around Oregon City. A camel, they thought, would surely be more of an attraction than an ordinary llama or alpaca.



And they were right.





"So many people have never seen a camel, let alone pet it," Mike Dilworth said. "They're always surprised at how nice they are and how friendly they are."

Finally, about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, the firefighters managed to get a tarp and heavy duty straps under Moses and heaved the animal out of the hole. For an hour, Moses lay on his side, exhausted. Then he got up on his knees, where he remained for another half hour or so. The Dilworths still weren't sure Moses was going to make it. Had he broken a leg?

And then, Moses scrambled to his feet and ambled back to his barn. A local veterinarian looked him over and said the camel escaped serious injury.

It was a happy ending for the Dilworths, who have been struggling with health and financial issues. Mike Dilworth, 44, lost his job and Kim Dilworth, 44, is out of work while she receives treatment for cancer.

The couple watched their pet walk up the hill to the barn and go to sleep.

"We were all cheering," Mike Dilworth said.

As for the Clackamas County firefighters, McAdoo said they're getting pretty good with animal rescues.

"I don't know why we are the pet rescue fire department," McAdoo said. "Some of the guys on the rescue of the camel were there when we did the cow in the well. We're getting this down."

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