Swimming Camels
During our journey, we may need to cross streams or rivers. We wondered if camels can swim. It turns out that camels are good swimmers. During an expedition in the United States during which camels were being tested by the Army, 25 camels had to swim across the Colorado River. They did this without a problem, but two horses and ten mules drowned during the swim. Even though camels can swim, that doesn't mean they will. Camel experts will also tell you that some camels readily swim while others will balk and resist going across a two-inch deep stream. It all depends on the camel.
In Turkey, camel wrestling is a popular sport. Camels are natural wrestlers. Their take-down technique is similar to the method used by human wrestlers. First, they hook their neck over their opponent's back. Then they lift their weight off their front feet, transferring their weight to their adversary. In this position, they try to reach over and grab the opposite front leg of their adversary with their fighting teeth. The fighting teeth are two sharp incisors half way back in the mouth. If they can bite the leg, they pull that leg under and across, toppling their opponent. The top camel then tries to crush the windpipe of the downed camel.
Working with an aggressive camel, you have to be aware of his neck-hooking move so that you don't get thrown to the ground and the camel pretends you are pie crust and he's the rolling pin. Camels, unlike horses, can also kick in all directions–front, back, and sideways. They are well-rounded martial artists.
Camel Gourmets
Camels can eat plants that other animals won't touch. They actually enjoy Acacia with its three inch-long thorns. When the US military brought camels to the United States in the 1800's, they landed in Texas, where the camels promptly starting eating the prickly pear cactus that was used as fences by Texans. I've watched camels chomp on sagebrush and tumbleweeds with apparent relish. A camel's long neck is an adaptation that allows them to reach thorny goodies high off the ground that other animals have difficulty reaching.
A camel is a moving forager. This means they don't spend much time in any one place while eating. This results in less damage to the surrounding terrain than that caused by animals like sheep which eat all the plants in an area before moving on. Only when camels are restricted to a certain area will they eat everything in sight, as happens around an oasis where they may clear the vegetation for several miles around.
The food that a camel does eat is used very efficiently. A camel has half the metabolism of a cow. This means that if you feed a similar sized camel and cow the same amount of food, the camel will put on twice as much weight as the cow.Caravan Riddles
- How is it that an animal like a camel, which lives mostly in the desert or high mountains, is such a good swimmer?
- Can you think of an environmental reason for being a moving forager that would help camels survive?