ANYONE heading in or out of the town on the A517 might be forgiven for doing a double-take as they see these four enormous camels staring back at them.
But the four rare Bactrain camels, who live in a farm yard minutes from the town centre enjoying their view of the main road, are just the start of the remarkable array of animals kept at the farm.
Rare pigs, celebrity goats, high profile rabbits, photogenic snakes, a cow that thinks it’s a horse and a surprisingly famous chicken all live with Nathan Anderson- Dixon and his family at Gate Farm in Sturston.
The menagerie of pampered animals are all part of The Mini Farm, a business started by former estate agent Nathan, who ditched his desk-job in Burton around two years ago to follow a dream and start rearing animals for a living.
But rather than make money through traditional farming, Nathan had other ideas for his animals, and set about finding them lucrative roles in television programmes and films.
Many of his animals are multi-talented, all are trained to be friendly, and often head out to venues across the country to take part in mobile “petting zoos”, which are proving popular with schools and other organisations.
He has four immaculate reindeer, which have a choice of three sledges to pull around Christmas time, and possibly the luckiest turkey in the country — which gets to avoid ending up on the table each Christmas and instead visits groups of people who rarely get to see a live turkey.
Animals from Nathan’s farm have been used by big names like Disney, have appeared at film premieres and in a selection of TV adverts, and he has an Albino rabbit that is a regular face for iconic London store Harrods Most of the animals on the farm, which Nathan rents off owner Robert Pilkington, were hand-reared and trained to be good around people, or be led with a head collar on.
His camels, which arrived at the farm in the last few weeks, will soon under-go training with head collars, before Nathan gets them used to being ridden and one day he hopes to use them for racing.
To find out more about the animals on the farm, or hiring out a petting zoo, call Nathan on 07931 312754 or visit www.theminfarm.co.uk.