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The July Fourth parade in Granby, Colorado, the Rocky Mountain town where I live, is a joyful celebration of small-town America. Our local veterans usually lead the marchers down the main street, followed by pickup trucks transformed for the day into festive floats promoting everything from local dude ranches and restaurants to our electric power co-op. Firefighters throw candy from big red pumper trucks and there’s usually a fighter jet flyover by the Colorado National Guard. The sidewalks are always packed from one end of town to the other.
But the 2022 parade featured an unexpected new attraction, which couldn’t have startled me more if it had been George Washington himself, naked.
A full-grown dromedary camel was padding along the main street center line, led by a woman wearing a Colorado Avalanche jersey. Frankly, it seemed a little random. No banner. No explanation. Just a lady walking a one-hump camel down the parade route like a giant dog. Nothing delighted the crowd more.
A bit of research revealed that the camel’s name was Larry, and it turned out Larry was as close as our rural county had to a bona fide TV celebrity, his castration having been featured on a 2020 episode of Animal Planet’s Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet. Let’s just say, Dr. Jeff was impressed: “These are the biggest testicles I’ve taken off an animal.”
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Thus began my deep fascination with Larry the Camel, and I set out to learn more about his life away from the spotlight. Larry lived quietly at Troublesome Creek Horse Rescue, a nonprofit center for rescued horses, donkeys, mules, and other ranch animals outside of Kremmling on the western edge of the county.
His owner, Bethany Aurin, seemed to appreciate not only the novelty of having a camel in cattle ranching country, but the indefinable star quality of this particular beast. Larry was about 20 years old (middle aged for a camel) with soulful eyes, a gregarious nature, and an absurd size and shape that ignited smiles wherever he went. And he went a lot of places. He appeared at weddings and birthday parties. Aurin took him Christmas caroling. He marched in Fourth of July parades in other towns, including Steamboat Springs, and regularly delighted the residents of Cliffview, our county’s primary assisted-living center.
“Larry was our ambassador, not only for our ranch, but also for the Aurin family,” Tracy DelliQuadri, a board member at the rescue center, told Sky-Hi News. “He greeted everyone who arrived at the ranch.” Aurin described Larry as “a kind soul. He was big, and kinda goofy. He had silly expressions.” But, she added, the lumbering mammal was “very, very gentle.” In short, Larry embodied the kind of infectious joy our world desperately needs right now, which makes what happened one year ago especially tragic.
On July 4, 2025, Larry was struck by lightning while grazing among the other animals at the Troublesome rescue ranch. Sad reports of his ironic end ricocheted around our community like news of a pop star’s passing. His death was followed by a front-page tribute in our local paper.
Shortly before that, Larry had paid what would be his last visit to his fans at the assisted-living center. The center’s operator later posted a tribute on Facebook: “Our beloved friend, Larry the Camel, brought joy, laughter, kindness and kisses to Cliffview this past week, and in years past. Cliffview has lost a very dear friend and our hearts are broken. We send love and our deepest condolences to Bethany and the Troublesome Horse Rescue family.”
Larry’s passing also spurred a remarkable feature on the CBS affiliate in Denver. “I have a strong faith,” Aurin said, “and I believe God needed a camel.”
Hats off to Aurin for rescuing Larry and so many other unwanted ranch animals and for her remarkable poise after losing what she described as her best friend. But listen, God. Things haven’t been going so well down here lately, and we really, really need Larry back.
Subscribe to journalist Martin J. Smith’s newsletter, The Shitshow Observed. His latest novel, 27 Knots, will be published by Open Road Media in November 2026.
