At Helen Ziegler & Associates, we consider camels to be our unofficial office mascot. Here are a few facts about camels:
There are two types of true camels, the one-hump Arabian variety (the dromedary) and the two-hump Asian variety (the Bactrian).
Camels can travel up to 161 km (100 miles) in the hot desert without water. But contrary to popular misconception, a camel's hump is not filled with water. Instead, it is filled with fat (up to 36 kg, or 80 lbs) that is metabolized for energy and water when needed. As the fat is used up, the hump will become flabby.
A thirsty camel can drink 135 litres (30 gallons) in 13 minutes.
Camels can close their nostrils to keep out sand. They also have two sets of eyelashes to protect their eyes — one shorter (those set nearest to the eyes) and one longer.
Camels are fast! They can run up to 64 kilometers (40 miles) per hour. But they are anything but graceful. They have an uncommon stride, resulting from walking by using the legs on the same side of their body at the same time (giraffes walk like this, too), which creates a swaying motion that can make riders feel seasick.
Like cows, camels have a multi-chambered stomach. They need to regurgitate and chew the cud, which is why camels are led around by a rope at the nose or a halter (not a bit and bridle like a horse), in order not to interfere with their chewing.
A camel pregnancy can last between 12 and 14 months, depending on the season and the availability of food.
Having a camel means all of your needs will be met. You can make clothes with the hair, make shoes with the hide, drink the milk, and fuel a fire with the dung.
Twenty-three Bactrian camels were used as pack animals during the few years of the Cariboo Gold Rush in the early 1860s in British Columbia, Canada. Though they didn't last long, their name lives on in the province's Camelsfoot Range and Camelsfoot Peak, and in the city of Lillooet's Bridge of the 23 Camels.
North America did once have its own homegrown camels! The camelops is an extinct type of camel that roamed the continent until about 10,000 years ago.The US National Parks Service says, "The Camel family (Camelidae) first evolved in North America approximately 44 million years ago during the Eocene period. Camelops first appeared in the fossil record during the Late Pliocene of North America between 4 to 3 million years ago. Living camel species and Camelops share a North American ancestor: Paracamelus, which crossed the Bering Strait 7-6 million years ago from North America to Eurasia."
And not for the squeamish, a CDC dispatch from 2005, written by two Saudi scientists and one American scientist reported four cases of the bubonic plague contracted by patients who had eaten raw camel liver!
Camels have been more than one artist's muse. Indian teacher and poet M.D. Dinesh Nair wrote a laudatory poem about camels, whereas Ogden Nash and Rudyard Kipling wrote children's poems about the animals. While Nash's poem is cute, and the familiar children's rhyme is fun, Kipling insults the camel's looks, and warns us about how we'll look like one (i.e., become lumpy) if we don't get out and exercise.
