Creature Classic©: Lap Camels

Welcome to Creature feature production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology and evolutionary biology, and today on the show Camels, it's just one hundred percent camels, one hundred percent of the time every species of camel discussed on this podcast.

I realized that.

I've never really talked about camels on the podcast, and I had to fix that issue. It was an oversight. I apologize. I apologize to camels. I apologize to people who love camels, and I Yet, camels are fascinating. They are so much more than you might expect. They have ridiculous evolutionary traits, incredible adaptations from inside out, from the tiniest cells and their bodies to those big old humps you know and love and spoilers. That hump is not

Welcome, Hey, best friend to camels, tell other big dumb faces. So excited you got the dumbest faces.

They do.

They have the sweetest, dumbest faces.

I love it.

I love them so just like you look at them from any angle, really, from that amazing poudy lips, those big bug eyes, it's such a and then those luscious eyelashes.

Oh yeah, they have beautiful eyelashes. And they are constantly chewing nothing. It seems like every time I've seen one, it's like chewing.

They're cut.

Yes, yeah, they just like chewing a circle motion. It's staring with their weird eyes. I was traveling in Israel once and we were on like a tour bus and I fell asleep and I woke up.

I don't I don't know, you woke up next to a camel.

I've heard this story a million times.

Oh yeah, I meane it happens. They're very seductive. The eyelashes.

Uh no.

I like woke up on the store of Us and I like look out into the distance and I swear to God, I saw a camel with a fez on just wandering the desert.

Yeah. I don't know if it's true.

It was like I don't know if it like escaped somewhere, but I was wearing a fez and it was just a lone camel out in the desert.

Camels I enjoy fashion as well.

I mean, yeah, no one else said they saw it, but I I swear he was wearing.

A little hat. I like that.

I like that there is a cryptid now that is camel wearing a fez, And yeah, Bridget has seen it and swears I seen it shaky.

Desert at the Middle East and confuses sleepy tourists.

Oh that's incredible.

They're everywhere out there, they are, and it's really interesting because they are domesticated and they have become much more cosmopolitan, much more globally present than they were typically when they were wild. Huh.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense because I mean I felt bad for the camels, but traveling around I would just see them, like at gas stations and be like, hey, bet my camel for like five dollars.

Oh gosh, five dollars a pet.

Yeah, one pet, five dollars, that's their pads. Has to be hard to keep a camel, I.

Mean actually, I mean maybe if you're trying to keep it in your apartment. But they sure were very well suited to domestication. They're more strong willed than say a horse or a cow, but they are they were, uh, I mean, the fact that they are so hardy and so well adapted to extremes made them invaluable in terms of being pack animals and animals that we rode on and domesticated animals in human history.

Yeah, I guess so. They do seem very they they're very gentle yea creatures.

They're gentle, but with a little bit of attitude, which I admire.

Yeah, yeah, you know, they have some edge to them and you can tell.

Yeah, they stare at you with their expressionless dumb faces, just chewing in big old circles.

You're like, I'm gonna go where I want to go, so just sort of a rundown. What is a camel?

A camel is an even toed ungulate like deer, sheep, bison. They're actually distantly related to whales and dolphins, which also descended from whose land animals. But yeah, they're basically they're even toad ungulates, So they're similar to antelope, deer sheep pigs.

Is that what the is? Are we gonna find out? The hump is a fin is essentially a fin.

I like that sand whales they're called sand dolphins.

Sand dolphins, I love that for them.

So camels have an interesting evolutionary history. The oldest known camel, Protolopus, lived around fifty million years ago and was about as big as a medium sized dog, So not very big, little tiny miniature camel.

Cute, let's bring that back. That feels more like the apartment camel.

I know, lap camel.

Oh, I would love a dream little lap camel and pettit have a spit spitout courtesans.

That I don't like. Yeah, the spit is griss.

So we don't necessarily know if these early ancestors of camel's actually had a hump or not. We don't have the soft tissue evidence, but they were found in North America. In fact, camels lived in North America until around fifteen thousand years ago, when they went ex dinked along with other megafauna, probably because humans came along and just ruined everything, as as we tend to like to do.

They you're back this MegaFon.

Well no, so these early ancestors of camels went extinct, but the other species of camels evolved and moved across the globe and became their own thing.

So that's why we got big camels.

I mean, the some of the camels that lived in North America were quite big, actually a little taller than modern day camels. May or may not have had a hump, but they did. They went extinct, while the other camels that migrated over to northern African Asia actually ended up surviving until modern times after going through a little bit of human mettaling. So interestinglys were not always adapted solely for hot climates, nor are they solely found in hot climates even today, which we'll talk.

A little bit about later.

But first thing to know is that there are three species of camel still alive today, which I think a lot of people just think there's like is camel, Every camel is just camel. There are three types of camel.

Yeah, it's funny because, yeah, you said three types of species, and I did think camel's just camel, and then I also at the same time thought that seems low.

But so there is the dromedary camel, which is probably the camel you're thinking of right now.

Yeah, that looks like camel, camel.

Camel camel, sort of your camel classic, which is actually a little deceptive because there is the bactory and camel, which is probably actually an older species of camel, and the wild bactory and camel. So we are going to talk about the Bactrian and the wild Bactrian, who are fascinating camels. But first we're gonna talk about the good old Dromedary camel, the one we know and love, which is also incredibly incredibly interesting. So the Dromedary is the

They're the ones that wear the fezes. They're exactly camel. Yeah, but so handsome, very handsome. And it is a domesticated animal. It is not a wild animal. They are all domesticated and it has not been wild for at least two thousand years.

So yeah, it's you know, essentially like a horse or a cow, it is domesticated.

I remember seeing like I've seen wild horses and I are like my mind was kind of blown.

Like they just exist.

But uh, that's saying I thought camels were just you know, throwing in the woods making more camels or the desert.

Well they can be.

So there are feral camels. In fact, a lot of feral camels.

That's fact we'll talk about. Actually, I don't like that. I don't like that. Actually that's very scary.

We will talk about some of these feral camels.

Uh.

And while they're maybe not scary to humans, there are some problems with feral camels. So there are big populations of feral camels, but they are technically feral versions of the domesticated camel. So just kind of a short description of the dromedary camel. They have one hump, always one hump. They have short but shaggy fur, a long curved neck, and absolutely gorgeous maybe the line maybe it's maybe line. Maybe she's born with it. Eyelashes and they are born

They're stunning. Yeah, they could fan your face with their eyelashes.

It's stunning.

It's a look. And I'm jealous, frankly.

Yeah, yeah, they're they're dumb seductive faces.

Yeah, you can't get around it. Those camels are hot.

They have they do have vogue faces. They know how to have that sort of unfocused, glazed look in their eye. They flutter their eyelashes and pout with their lips. They're Yeah, they're they're very very vogue.

Yeah.

They they look like they want you to pet them, but they do not.

They will spit at you. Yeah.

Yeah, Actually that spit is not spit, but a mixture of saliva and regurgitate. Regurgitate, regurgitate, regurgita.

That makes sense, it does, Yeah, because that's not I've seen the spit and it's not. It looks it looks like they have a virus sal at the time or something. Yeah, yeah, it's it's it's pretty gross.

It's throw up. It's a little bit of throw up. They regurgitate and will shoot it at you. And this is a defensive tactic that they use. Yeah, it used to be against predators, but they will also do it if they're just pissed off at you, a human.

They are very sassy creatures too. They always they they do seem a bit pissed a lot. Yeah, it you know, it adds up. I do like that as that feels like the kind of defensive tactic that someone like me would have, is that I just throw up at you. I like that as a superpower as someone with stomach issues. I enjoy that as a superpower of just you.

I did when I was in elementary school, like get sick during a choir practice, and I did, on accident throw up on the front row, including a girl.

I didn't really like. So perfect, I was right exactly, it was.

It was actually why we're while we were seeing a dough dear, do re me fasse latti and then at the like do re me fa so latti? Barf everywhere on the front row, but especially I really didn't like.

So good, good job, thank you?

Uh that man, such a memorable birthday, A.

Lot of cake.

So I I really do feel for the camels because I it's like I really embodied the camel.

This day, the camel spirit.

Yeah yeah, the power of the camel. Today on my birthday, I shall exhibit the power of the camel.

Yeah, so so uh.

Wild camel fur is typically that lovely tan color. It can range from black to white and in very rare cases actually piebald, meaning a splotchy mix of black and white fur. So yeah, designer camels. So I don't think it's the thing.

Yeah, I mean I assume, yeah, I assume. If you're breeding camels, you know you get.

The designer camel. Well, I got some coats. No, I just want the animal designer camel. No, I'm still getting coats. So I'm going to assume maybe there are designer camels, but maybe they're also just wearing designer coats.

I like that better. Yeah, it's a it's a coat for a camel. It's not a coat made out of a camel, don't worry.

So uh, I mean it could be a coat made out of the camel's wool, not like, you don't necessarily have to kill the camel right to get camel wool, which is you know, nice, I guess.

Which is good? Good. Yeah.

So the wild ancestors of dromedaries adapted to intense desert regions, which is actually probably why they were domesticated because they are so gosh darn hardy.

Uh.

These original drumedary camels would live in the Sahara and was able to withstand in tense conditions in the desert. So this was a huge boon for people who lived in the desert regions because they could be used as pack animals transportation. They could even be used for their milk, their wool, and also their meat.

So uh.

They've also been used for plowing fields I.

Mean like they were really really useful for people who lived in these desert regions.

Yeah, that makes sense. They kind of like.

They feel like the cows of that area, Like if you let them loose on a field, they're gonna just eat the day away.

I mean they're kind of they're like really metal versions of cows. Uh and like yeah, and just kind of I don't know, it's they're they're like a utility ungula because there's so many different things that they can do.

You know, hanging things off those humps.

Yeah, I mean I would in an apocalyptic environment, I would rather have a camel than a horse.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

They they definitely seem more party and less high maintenance, yes, than those damn horses.

But it is Have you have you ever ridden a cam? I have not.

I imagine it's extremely comfortable.

Yeah, I did one of those. It is crazy getting up. Oh really, what I'm It's what I imagined like a hydraulic car to be like.

Because the camel actually doesn't. The camel lie down and then you get on it and then.

You lie yeah yeah, and they stand up like one leg at a time. So it's just in the very long legs on that camel.

Yeah, you got a hold on.

You got Yeah, so it's just like one at a time, kind of like shifting you a good like.

Seven eight feet in the air. Yeah, like.

Noises.

Yeah, horse is a little not that a horse ride is comfortable, but I would recommend it more. They also, you know, the backspace is it's mostly humped back there, so you have not a you don't really have a lot of rooms.

Right right, not much lumbar support. No camel how dare they not be designed with the lumbars some one? Yeah, these animals, these living creatures.

Yeah, it turns out they weren't made just for me to ride them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

If they were, they'd definitely come with sort of like cup holders and seatbuilts.

Yeah, I know.

They should be a little more organomical and probably a little less stubborn. The camel I was on did not want to go in the direction of all the other camels.

Yeah, they've got they've got free None of them did, Yeah, none of none of the camels.

It wasn't like particular to me, like we were.

Yeah, none of the camels seemed interested in going the direction that the ride was.

The camel ride was designed for.

Like, they got their own stuff going on. Maybe they know, yeah, they're going to DJ that night, you don't know.

Yeah, I got they got appointments, they they.

They got stuff going on. Yeah, their social calendar is full, thank you.

Yeah. They didn't get to put on all that mascara for nothing.

So the drummedary camel still lives in hotter arid regions like the Sahara Desert, but domestication has distributed them all across Africa, Asia, the Persian Gulf, and they were even brought to Australia in the mid eighteen hundreds, which, like many animals that were imported to Australia, was a terrible decision because now there are over a million feral camels wandering and ransacking the Australian bush.

No that is yeah, yeah, don't bring animals to places where animals.

Don't go, especially Australia.

Yeah, I mean they they're full of yeah, non native species, they're they're closed off that.

Yeah. I don't.

I don't like animal as big as a camel. The idea of that being feral I can handle, but like that's too big to be feral.

That's scary.

Yeah, come on, mittens and it's just like a herd of angry camera.

Heard of camels.

I don't like that that yeah, there, I don't like they're gentle and they have a big, dumb, flat teeth.

But uh, they're very big.

They're very there's a that's a lot of sas to have in a feral population of camel.

It's funny because I cannot see them being like a camel. Camel aggression to me is very just sass.

Yeah, it's I mean they do like do you spit as we've talked about, or you know, the regurgitating weaponized regurgitating.

They also do.

They will bite, I mean if they feel.

Like they have to.

Yeah, it feels like all their defenses are kind of like I mean, I'm sure the bite is hard, but it's not gonna like tear you apart, like a camel's not gonna eat you.

Yeah that's what they want you to think though.

That's what they want you to think. Yeah, they're there. Their teeth are weird.

Although they might eat you if you are already dead, which I talk about we'll talk about a little bit more later. But yeah, these feral camels are actually a significant problem because they are devastating to the native plant populations and they cause erosion with all their stomping with

We can do it.

Yeah looks nice. Well yeah, fire, tornadoes, we got it.

We don't care.

Yeah, I guess I have to imagine they just eat constantly too, like if they're not just well.

It's down or Yeah.

It's interesting because they will eat when they have the opportunity to, but they do. They are able to withstand incredibly inhospitable conditions.

Yeah, and they can last for quite a.

While without eating, without drinking, and it is stunning what they are able to endure. But we are going to take a quick break and when we get back, we are going to talk about how the camel is one of the most extreme, most hardy large mammals in the world. Ridget you're ready to talk about how much camel's rule.

Hell, yeah, that's why I'm here, baby, they're.

I mean, like I often like to talk about lesser known animals on the show, sort of the animals you don't you know, aren't aren't one of the big animals that we kind of talk about all the time. But camels are really interesting because they are Everyone knows that they're really hardy. They can survive without water. But I think there's a lot of misconceptions about how they do this, and it's actually incredibly impressive what they are capable of.

Yeah, I mean, I I know this is wrong.

I've always seen it was hump based why they are able to survive. I'm sure the hump has something to do with it. But you know, yes, they're they're hardcore. If they can live out, you know, in those deserts, yes, and just not drink for days, the exactlyttle more.

Yeah, they're a little more metal than they look.

They're very metal, much more metal than that long luxurious lashes and actually those eyelashes also being just iconic, do serve a very important purpose in terms of keeping their eyes protected from sand. Because they live in these places where there can be sandstorms, and these really thick long lashes act, as you know, essentially like a fence fencing

Their eyes third. Yeah, it's that third eyelash that goes sideways.

Yes, exactly, that third eyelid, the nictitating membrane. Birds also have it, and it's like, so that's when cats and they're kind of like half awake, they look at you and they have this weird, like very silly expression because that third eyelid is sort of halfway across their eye. Well, camels also have this, and they can also use that to protect their eyes from sand. But yeah, so they are just incredibly well adapted to dry, desert arid environments

Yeah, that is what I had always heard, the camelback backpack. This is kind of what I assume the uh the hump was was essentially just like a big water bladder. But I also know that's wrong because it's not like if you poke that thing.

It's not like that.

It's not a bladder of right, it doesn't slosh around.

Yeah, so you know that's what I've heard, but I've assumed that was wrong.

Yeah, I mean, so it does serve a very important purpose, but that is not to keep the camel hydrated. It is actually other factors, other evolutionary advantages that the camel has.

That helps it survive without water.

So in temperatures of up to one hundred and four degrees fahrenheit, they only need to drink water every ten to fifteen days, which is, for the record, a lot longer than humans can. You'd be very dead. I'd be dead. We'd be a pile of bones. Maybe not bones, but yeah, but dead, but certainly dead. Certainly dead.

That sounds like a long time. Yeah. Yes.

When it does drink, it drinks very heartily. It can drink over four gallons or twenty liters a minute and can drink around thirty gallons or one hundred and fifteen liters in one sitting.

I that in the the minute.

That how much you can drink in a minute is shocking to Yeah, because I feel like you need a hose to do that. So certain like I feel like them just lapping up water.

It's gotta be that. That seems they do that at a a quick rate.

Yes, very powerful mouths, just hoovering up water.

Yeah, it feels like it would need a tusk to drink that much water. But good for them.

Yeah, So the water is not stored in the humph. The hump is actually a fibrous mass of faty tissue that is stored and can be metabolized as food for the nutrition for the camel if it is unable to find food. So it's not really for water, it is for nutrition.

That is handy.

Yes, it's like a backpack full of snacks, except it's kind of it's just anya.

It's just anya.

Yeah, And this hump can store up to eighty pounds or thirty six kilograms of fat. So that is significant. That is a significant can't ley adequate source of nutrition if they are encountering scarcity?

Does that hump. I mean, now does it like shrink? Yes, they lose yeah, okay.

Yeah, as they consume it. Yeah, it's kind of deflates. Uh, And it's kind of like a sad balloon. But with a full hump, they can go several months without food.

Wow. Yes, for them.

In terms of the water, how they survive, on how they are able to drink a huge amount of water and then go so long without having to drink more water, it is actually inside of them that is mostly responsible for their water preservation in terms of their organs like their kidneys, and also as small as their blood cells. Their blood cells are actually oval shaped rather than round like.

Our blood cell.

Red blood blood cells are kind of like these little like doughnuts without a hole in them. Yeah, but uh, camel red blood cells are oval shaped, and what that allows is for the blood flow to continue even when they're severely dehydrated. So they're kind of more streamlined to these blood cells, so they can continue to flow through the veins even in cases of severe dehydration.

That is.

Very thorough evolution. Yes, Uh, that is incredible. Uh that yeah, down to the blood cell. It has figured out in the desert.

Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, if you want an example of how blood cell shape can kind of change based on a mutation but then end up being advantageous, you only need to look at humans, where people can get sickle cell anemia, which is generally speaking not necessarily advantageous, but it does make it harder to contract malaria, and so the sickle cell anemia actually provides an advantage to people who are in areas where there is high malaria risk.

Ah, Man, evolution is cool, Ain't it wacky? It's it's it's wild that.

Yeah, your body just figures out how to best survive and then forms everybody that way.

Yeah, I mean it's just like it's but it's just luck, right, Like if you're if you're the person, you're just kind of born with the mutation, and it's like, oh, actually this is pretty good. You just end up surviving and end up having babies and passing that onto them.

Yeah, good for these camels and they're lost blood cells.

So yeah, Camels can also voluntarily close their nostrils, which will prevent sand from entering their nostrils and can also help them prevent more water loss, like by exhaling out of their nostrils in like these very dry, windy conditions.

How do they breathe?

Well, it's voluntary, so they they open.

Up their breath. Yeah, breathe, Yeah.

I mean it's like it's sort of like blinking in a way, although like voluntary blinking, like if you if it's really windy or something, you might kind of blink more to keep your eyes more moisturized. It's the same thing with this. It's no, it s nose blinking kind of.

That's I have seen that happen. It is. It's weird.

Yeah, I kind of always thought of it as blinking that it is like kind of involuntary.

But that's cool. They're big, dumb nostrils.

So other adaptations is uh. Another adaptation is that they have thick, leathery skin on their feet, knees, and chest areas so they can protect themselves from the hot sand while walking, kneeling and lying down because they do often kind of lie down with their legs tucked under them. It's very cute.

Yeah, yeah, they're they're like they're they're like I I think of them as a very like kind of lazy animal because I always see them lying down and.

It, uh, they're efficient. It's it's efficiency.

It's efficiency.

Yeah, energy efficiency. Yeah, that's what I call my naps energy efficiency.

Energy efficiency. Yeah. They also just have the sleepiest faces.

They really do, they really do. And then just like that slow chewing it's it's adorable.

Yeah, they always look like the chillip.

Yeah.

And that chewing.

Actually they are chewing their cuds so they regurgitate this quasi digested vegetation back up to chew it some more and swallow it again. It's something a lot of ungulates will do, a lot of ruminants will do.

It's pretty gross.

It's pretty gross. In addition to that, though, they also have really thick lips that they can grasp and chew, like pull out and chew vegetation. And since the vegetation they have to contend with is often thorny and prickly, they have really thick lips and insides of their mouth so they can chew on it without getting hurt getting scratched.

Oh yeah, that's why they have a big faces.

Those paddy lips and those luscious eyelids. Ushes actually serve quite a good evolutionary purpose.

Yeah, uh yeah, I just like, like, what are you chewing on my own vomit?

Want some spits at you?

Yeah, just keeping it in my mouth in case, just in case.

We do have to talk about their love lives. It's fascinating, of course, it's it's I mean, I've.

Been I've been staring at this picture that you have of a camel, uh making love to another camel for an inappropriate amount of time.

It is something that I mean, like without sounding weird, it's like kind of fascinating because it was not how I pictured them mating. Honestly.

Yeah.

They yeah, they're they're very large and unruly animals. I would say. Their body seems unruly. Uh yeah, just a lot of long legs and a week hump in a long neck.

Yeah. So the physics seem off, it does it does?

It's they're ungainly and then you see how they mate and it's like, I guess, I guess that is kind of the only way to do it. So what it is is the female is lying down with her legs tucked under her, sort of just classic bread loaf camel pose, and the male is very awkwardly stretched over her with his neck kind of like sticking out, his legs straddling her, his front legs straddling her, and then you know, just

Down, yeah whatever, yeah it uh.

Yeah, that male seems stressed, yeah to see the least, and she's just like.

Yeah, good for her. But also I.

Like the body shape that this camel that the male has contarted itself to, which is just like a ball m with a you remember those skippet things that you would tie around your ankle.

Yes, I had a ball.

Yeah, it's sort of like that shape, but if the ball was like a cannon ball.

Yeah, yeah, it's it really.

It's like, I guess we're just so used.

To seeing the camel in its normal position with its like neck sort of in a sloping U shape, just kind of walking around, but when it like stretches its neck out and its legs out and it's like little pot belly is shoved unceremoniously on its knees.

Just really yeah, it doesn't. Yeah, I figure it's et it's it's it looks like EtuH. It has that long neck and then that weird circle body. Yes, it's and it's like little squat legs.

I don't.

It's not dignified. It's not very dignifia.

No, uh, it's you know they have to do this in public.

But speaking of undignified, males have a lot of romantic.

Gestures that they will offer.

For females to try to attract them, one of which is splashing their own urine around their genitals. Well, of course, of course, I mean, I mean how that it's camel cologne.

Yeah, and you want that area to spell good. I can't feel like I know, they don't. I know, the female just kind of like picks it up. But well, you don't have to do it on the general littles. I'm sniffing down there, but like, where else are you going to go? You can't really aim it and might as well. I would rather use splash your urine, you know where the urine comes from, then on its neck or something.

Although yeah, like not sort of like the perfume thing where you roll a little bit on your.

Wrists and on your neck.

Yeah, it's because I like with animals, you know, with wild animals.

You know, I just assume they're covered in urine. Oh yeah, it's goodness.

I don't think they need to do the extra work. Yeah, I'm sure that splashback happens.

I mean it's it's basically water park rules, right, like ninety nine is gonna be p You just have to accept it.

Yeah, you just gotta.

Yeah, they're covered in bte. We didn't need to do extra work for it. But you know, if it works, who am I to judge?

Yes, And.

Speaking of extra work, the males do have another romantic gesture to offer the females, and it is inflating a sack of flesh inside their mouth, letting it flop out the side of their mouth like this big, wet, pink balloon, and then sort of pushing air through it such that it makes this like rumbling, gurgling, bubbling sound and not Yeah, it's very hot. It is called the dola. Uh.

And this is what it sounds like. Oh that is not what I was expecting. That sounds like a water cooler.

Yeah that I'm also I'm looking at this thing that's not their tongue.

No that is you know, I don't want to judge, but.

Gross, it sounds a little bit judgy actually though.

Yeah, it's oh man that it looks like a turd coming out of its mouth.

You're dulla shaming these camels.

I yeah, I mean, you know, if it if it helps them attract mates, good, good for them. I just if I saw that, I would not go near that camel. You No, No, that doesn't work for me a human, But what I know about camel love, I don't like that thing. It's just like another what what like? So just they can just inflate it, that's just.

All yeah, when you suck it back in, it's actually it's like tissue that's sort of I believe is mean out of the same tissue found in.

Like our soft palette.

But it's just kind of like a bunch of flappy tissue that's inflatable that they can stick out the side of their mouth.

Yeah. Cool.

I guess if it works for you, it works for you. For me, it freaks me out a little bit.

But uh, I think it's personally for me. I like the thought.

I think it's a nice thought, it's considerate.

It's a nice yeah.

Yeah, yeah, check out this flappy gum. It's it's like when you're like double jointed or something and you're like, check this out.

Uh, I guess it's.

A There was a guy who in my high school would flirt with girls by showing how he can like control his salivary glands under his tongue and like squirt the saliva out shoot it out, which uh you know, not.

You know, not unsimilar to a camel, but uh yeah, not the best move. Yeah, human, But you know.

I don't remember if you ever got got someone to go to the problem with them using that technique, but you know, using that spitting yeah, uh yeah.

That thing is uh yeah. It looks like a big gross balloon tongue hanging out of its mouth.

Don't forget wet also wet, big gross balloon.

Yeah, it seems very vulnerable to just like hang that out of your.

Mouth, right, That's what I'm saying, though, it's like showing vulnerability. Is there anything sexier than showing vulnerability?

That's that's true, because it feels like, you know, you don't want to get sand in that, you got to put it back in your mouth and that that's that's true, but you know, uh it just yeah, it does seem very just like, here's this soft, weird, fleshy thing that lives in my mouth and uh, it's for you now?

Is that so different from human kissing?

I guess not. I guess not. H I mean, I don't know.

I mention, here's this soft, weird, fleshy thing that lives in my mouth.

It's for you now, it's for you. Now here take it.

I'm gonna try that on my husband.

Yeah, just here. Uh uh yeah.

I guess what we do is weirder because I assume the female doesn't put that in her mouth too.

Yeah, probably not. So there you go.

Camels less disgusting than humans.

But that's what we've figured out here.

Good for camels, Good for camels. Bridget I promise that we would talk about factory and camels, and now here.

We are gonna talk about. Here we go.

So Bactrian camels may not be what you imagine when you think about a camel, or I mean, maybe it is. I don't know, I don't know you, but these were actually the more of the og camels. There's genetic evidence and fetal development of dromedary camels suggests that they probably evolved from the Bactrian camels wild ancestors, rather than the bactrine camels evolving from dromedary like camels. So bactrine camels

Up their sleeve.

If they are really running out of food, they will no longer. They will not just restrict themselves to vegetation. They will eat bones. So they will eat the bones or even the kind of like leathery flesh from mummified or decaying carcasses. And they have even been known to eat tints and rope when they are desperate enough all.

That, but that can't provide anything. I mean bone certainly. I guess they're eating like marrow essentially. Yeah, all buddies don't eat the rope. Rope won't help you. I like these guys. They're yeah, they're they're short. They got two humps. That makes them better than the one hime Carles I cause a camel war, but uh yeah, objectively.

This is like a sneech.

Is a situation, isn't it.

Yeah, I don't I don't want to start this amongst camels, but it kind of seems objective to me that, uh, you know.

Two humps yeah, or they're taller, yeah, the bigger on a smaller yeah, on a smaller camel, Yeah, bigger humps. And they fluffy.

They are massively man possively fluffy.

So yeah, this one looks like it has two tails. It's well, it's interesting. So they are.

They have a very thick furry coat in the winter that is just completely poofy, like so fluffy. I'm talking like, you know, just bison levels of total fluff. Like beyond that, they're like I like it, Yeah, I like its chest fluff. They have so much fluff and I mean I just kind of want to like hug one of these things and get.

Lost in get in there. Yeah, it is so fluffy.

It actually will shed this winter coat in the summer, spring and summer, and it will fall off in these huge, messy clumps. And it looks like a toddler took a pair of a razor to this poor camel and just started going to town.

But it looks like that camel's going through or something.

Yeah, yeah, or like the camel's just kind of like decaying or something. But it's totally natural. It's just that this coat has to come off, and it comes off really rapidly, so it comes off in these huge chunks. That makes it look like it had an incredibly bad day at a barber's.

Yeah. I like that.

In this picture it seems to be like middle then top than bottom, so it still has all that like proud chest fluff. But uh, the top is a is a mess, yeah, and the middle is patchy at best. What I'm also confused about it is this camel seems to be outside a house, and therefore I assume is taken care of by the people who live in that house. Can't they just shave that camel.

I mean, it's but this is natural for the cameras, it's gonna do it.

Yeah, it's gonna do it regardless. I would.

Yeah, it's not probably bothering them.

Yeahah, I wonder if I guess they don't, because, like you know, when you give a dog a haircut and they can get embarrassed about it.

I do have to trick my dog's butt fluffies otherwise the poop can get stuck to the butt fluffy right, of course, And the amount of treats it takes to bribe her to tolerate the butt fluffy haircut is enormous.

Yeah. No, I mean I don't know what you're doing back there. Yeah.

If that hair yeah, if that hair just falls fell off, I assume, Yeah, it's better just let it.

Yeah.

And the reason that they are they have to go through this incredible change from being like this incredible poofy fluffy thing to having a very short coat is that they live in an environment that has the most dramatic

Good for them, you know, to be able to groom themselves for that.

Yeah, that's a good trait that also, Yeah, I would if it was that hot, I'd find a way to get anything off my body.

Yeah, I'd just start peeling my skin off because yeah, yeah, but yeah, and they also have adaptations that allow them to survive in this really dry winter condition because winters can even though like we think some in certain climates you think of winters as being maybe kind of wet, a lot of rain or something, winter caneaks extremely dry the factory and camel can actually eat small amounts of snow to stay hydrated, which is not something you should do as a human.

Yeah, I guess not.

No, you should not.

If you guess if it's on the ground, if it came from the sky, no.

You should not. You shouldn't eat even fresh snow for hydration, because you're actually gonna dehydrate yourself more. It takes more moisture for you to process that really cold cold snow, and your body essentially has to like melt it so that you can process it, and it ends up on net causing making your metabolism work harder, and so you actually end up loose using water when you eat snow

Camel, or you boil that snow. I don't know, or you boil the snow Florida. Yeah, from Florida. I live in California. Now, I don't have a lot of snow experience, right, I don't know what it takes.

Yeah, yeah, you can. You can catch snowflakes on your tongue. That's fine, But don't don't eat snow. If you are hiking in you're thirsty. It's not a good situation unless you boil it. But the Bactrian camel can eat small amounts of snow, it can't go overboard or else it'll actually encounter the same problem as humans and other mammals. But they are one of the few animals that are able to eat snow, and they have efficient enough internal thermal regulation to be able to turn the snow into

Good for them, for.

Them, I mean, you know, maybe live in a nicer climate, camel, it will be a lot easier for you.

But you know, we're making it work, and work camels take a break, move to the beach.

It's like like, well, I'm tired of the cold, Well let me move to the desert instead. That was the decision they made. Yeah, but they actually were really important in human history. The factoring camel their ability to survive in incredibly harsh conditions from the extreme heat to the extreme cold, allowed humans to use them as pack animals along the Silk Road, and without this camel, this trade route would probably not have been possible.

Yeah, that I mean makes a lot of sense because I feel like I've seen pictures of camels like packed up with stuff, and it seems easy for them.

It seems like they got it.

Yeah, I mean, they are they're very they're strong, and they they are very they can they travel long distances. They're very good at traveling long distances, and they are extremely hearty, and they can survive a really long time without food or water. So they're amazing as pack animals. Now, whether they enjoy it, I don't know.

I don't. I don't know if they assume yeah.

But they can handle it. And I don't think anybody enjoys walking that long.

I don't think. I don't think the humans were having a great time either, No, probably not. They they did help.

I mean, this was before we had like jeeps, so you know, we had to use camels.

We had to use Joe Camel. Yeah, impourt all his cigarettes.

Oh man, Joe Cammel such a bad look for camels.

Yeah no, he wasn't. He wasn't their best spokesperson.

No, no, they should have sent someone else, but uh, we got Joe.

But even though they look like kind of ungainly like, they wouldn't be able to run very fast, especially because they're fluffy back. During camels as well as actually the dromedary camels can run pretty fast, up to forty miles per hour or sixty five kilometers per hour. Typically, they don't like to run. That's not like their thing. They don't gallop around just for just for fun, but they can.

They don't seem like runners, Yeah they don't. They don't strike me as runners.

They're not.

They have those long legs, but I can't imagine. Their bodies are so misshapen to their legs. But yeah, they're they're awkward.

They're a little awkward. They I mean, they are capable of running pretty fast. They just it is not not They're like not a fun activity for them. They're not like up at six am and they're yeah.

Get it in there.

They Yeah, they seem low energy or they just know how to conserve that energy.

Yeah, with their with their CrossFit tennis shoes and they're yeah, apple watch. I'm trying to think of the runner like intense runner outfits.

Yeah, they they had the belt with why they don't need the belt they don't.

Yeah, like water belt they had.

They got got the the tube, the like the water backpack.

That third picture you have with this factory and camel. It it's so funny.

I do like that they seem to keep tufts of hair on the top. I don't know if it's just waiting to lose those like thinner tufts of hair on the top of its back or humps. But I like that it's just like a little decorative poof Yeah.

I think they kind of keep those wispies, like those kind of dark whispies on the top of their humps.

That's fun.

It's really fun.

It's just it's just fun. And I also like he has like he kept like top of it. It looks like, I know people with his haircut. He has like a nineties boy band like.

Middle part haircut. Yeah. No, it's good, it's good. Uh, it's it's a look.

It looks like yeah, it's just it looks like this camel's like started new you know.

Yeah, he's a he's a what is it Backstreet boys? Yeah.

Yeah, I like his haircut. I think he's doing good.

He looks like, you know, yeah, it doesn't look that much like a crisis. I mean there's a little crisis going on underneath. By at the top, he's grooming himself.

Yeah yeah, I mean, like if you ignore him from sort of like the waist down, he's he's well roomed.

Yeah. It does look like one of those Chinese crested dogs.

It does a little bit yeah, which I do, which I do think are cute.

Yeah, I do.

I prefer the fluff, but uh, you know, this camel's figuring out his luck.

Without this camel, it's.

Got the best of both worlds because like in the winter, fluff for days, and then the summer.

Boy, yeah, in the summer he's shedding, you know.

Yeah, he prepared, He prepared for the summer, and he knew what his luck was going to be exactly.

Yeah, and he achieved it, he really did. I really like that. He does have this like cloth like human like haircut.

Yeah.

I hope he keeps that for the summer.

Kind of dark roots too.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's grown out a little bit, a little bit of a mullet shape going on, but he has he has is swoopy.

Hair, little haircut. Yeah, really cute.

Yeah, and as little pomp poms on his back.

Oh yeah, like I do like pom poms.

It's nice. I like that they just like keep that. They're just like these are for me, these are just.

For You're just like, eh, I'll keep them keeping them. Yeah, so like them onto. The only undomesticated wild camel still left in the world, the wild Bactrian so Again, this is not like a feral version of the Bactrian camel. This is a different species that diverged over a million years ago and it is the only still living completely wild and free camel.

Now.

Unfortunately, they are critically endangered. Only around a thousand individuals still exist in the wild, and in my opinion, it is really important to make sure they do not go extinct because they are incredible. So they live in the Gobi Desert and in China's lap Nur Desert mountain region in protected reserves, and these are the only places where you will find them. The wild Bactrian camel is more lithe and wiry than its domesticated counterparts, a little more sleek,

Yeah. It uh, this looks like a wild camel.

Uh.

Now that I'm comparing, this looks like the This guy has been out.

There, yeah, live in the He's been on the road, living a hard life. He also yeah, I mean he's clearly losing patches of flur. But yeah, there's something about this one's eyes that it's like I've seen.

Some eahn out here. It's not. It looks a little more alert than the other canimals do.

And indeed they have seen. They have seen some stuff, some crazy stuff. They actually faced nuclear threats from humans in the sixties. China in the sixties tested nuclear weapons in the atmosphere over Lopnar where these camels were located, so they were exposed to a lot of radiation. Weirdly enough, the camels survived. They were okay. They survived nuclear radiation from forty three nuclear tests over the Lapner region and it's really amazing. It's hard to say how they managed this.

That's mind blowing these that's a sturdy animal and it did not deserve that.

But that's incredible.

H Yeah, I guess it could be like camels and cockroaches at the end here.

Yeah, no, I mean yeah, I think of the animals that may survive a like a nuclear winter, God forbid, maybe a camel.

Yeah, who would have thought? Not me. I would not have They would not have been at the top of my list. But yeah, I'm proud of them.

I'm proud of you. Hopefully they don't have to do that again.

But yeah, hopefully, because I'll tell you one thing, they'd survive a lot better than humans one.

Yeah, yeah, uh that. I'm proud. I'm happy for them, very happy for them.

Some good news is that in nineteen ninety six, China signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, so those nuclear tests no longer happen and now the area is a sanctuary for the camels.

Oh yeah, I love that for them. Yeah, let them hug.

You can't hug with nuclear arms, but you can't hug a camel, it might spit at you, but you know.

Oh yeah, but you know, we all get puked on a little bit at one point, sure exactly for another or puke on or you're the puky.

Yeah, in your.

Case, it's the beautiful circle of puke. So something that is super super fascinating about these wild Bactrian camels. So domesticated camels, the drumedaries and the domesticated Bactrian camels can tolerate slightly salty water, slightly brackish water, they'll be able to drink and process. But the wild Bactrian camel amazingly can drink salt water that is saltier than sea water, which again is not recommended for humans because it will kill you.

If you drink.

You drink too much seawater, you're gonna die because that is your body is not designed to be able to handle that much salt.

That is that I know that I'm very well aware of the yeah I have blown away by these damn camels.

We've learned two things today about human survival. Is that like, if you're thirsty in the snow, don't eat snow. If you're thirsty out at sea, don't drink the sea water unless your camel.

And then like wild fine, they're just.

Yeah, wild back and camel, it's fine, you're good.

They are so yes.

I mean, the exact mechanism for how they managed to drink this incredibly salty water is not yet known, but summer research is pointing in the direction of special gut bacteria that may be passed from uh, the mother's milk to her offspring that allows them to process high salt content. So this is research that is just kind of like starting to figure these things out. So it's not I mean,

He know, yeah, I the camel is mysterious and how it survives.

It's, uh, you'd think we know everything about the ding camel right at this point. It's like, Okay, sure, we don't know that much about this random like cave moss that nobody's studied or something, or this in this obscure tiny frog h deep in the rainforest. But this is a camel, and we don't know everything about this camel. It's I mean, it's kind of amazing that we still have so much to learn about this camel.

Yeah, you know, don't be fooled by their dopey looks.

They're full of mystery.

They contain multitudes.

They I mean in those humps.

Mm hmm, you're just looking those humps, those humps, those lovely camel humps.

Yeah, that's uh, he did not like, Yeah, they're they're my serious.

Creatures and turns out badasses, Yes, camel badasses.

Yeah, I really I will keep up to date on the camel research because I'm really interested in how these wild bacting camels are able to survive radiation and drink salt water saltier than seawater. It's incredible, truly, Like, I really do think that these camels would survive an apocalypse.

Yeah, it seems like it.

They're they're way heartier than they seem because again, there's such like an awkward creature.

I think that's why they're like so lovable. Is Yeah, weird looking.

They have those dopey faces and this weird body, but you know they're they're more than they look. If you said, like, describe a hearty animal, the last thing I would think of would be a.

Camel right, describe a hardcore like Mad Max sort of level, you know, just the furios of the animal kingdom. It is a camel.

Yeah, it turns out they're the Charlie's theirns, especially those lovely eyelashes. Yes, I mean they're hot in hell.

Hot and can survive a post apocalyptic world. What more could you want? I mean, I don't know, but I mean, despite the fact that these are hardcore survivalists, like I mentioned, they are critically endangered and that's because of you know, human encroachment on their habitat and hunting. So uh. You know, I am really rooting for these camels though, because it just doesn't seem fair to you know, wipe them out.

Yeah, they can deal with all these crazy elements and even our nuclear bull.

And yeah, and perhaps they shall inherit the earth.

You know, that seems like a better earth, cammel Earth.

I don't know about the tongue thing in the in the spinning, but you know, well, they they've got some stuff figured out clearly that we don't.

They do have a lot of stuff figured out.

And I am I for one, welcome the the inflatable mouth sacks.

Of love that they have.

But I do hope for a bright future where we can coexist peacefully with the camels and you know, denuclearize the world but re camelize it.

Yeah, more camels.

More camels, more camel's, fewer nukes. That is my That that is a cause I am would be happy to be behind.

Yes.

So so Bridget, are you ready to play a little game with me?

Always?

Yes, Well, we're gonna play guess who's squawking? The mystery animal sound game. Every week we play a mystery animal sound and you listeners out there and you my guests have to guess who is squawking, and it can be any animal, from a fish to a bird too, I don't know, some kind of snake, anything. And the only thing you get is the animal sound anialtle hint. Because I'm not I'm benevolent, I will give you a hint and you try to guess who is squawking. So last

The redhead is throwing me off. I'm gonna go it's wrong.

I'm I'm just clinging for anything because I I I'm stumped.

Here is it? Is it a hyaena?

It's a very interesting guess, very very it's.

Definitely not, because it's definitely not, but I'm gonna I mean it's the famously, it is a good guess.

It's a fair guess.

Certain species of hyenas can be pretty leggy, so I don't blame you for that, but this is, in fact not a hyena. Congratulations to the three fastest guessers, Joey P. Magnus Oh, and Joshua J who all correctly guessed that this is the roar bark of a mained wolf. So uh, Maimed wolves are not actually wolves, and they are not giant foxes, even though they kind of look like a giant fox.

Uh.

They are wild canines related to foxes and wolves, but only distantly. They are relatively ancient species of canid, one of the only large South American canid species that survived the mass extinction of metagaphun around fifteen to thirteen thousand years ago.

Oh look at these guys. Yeah, I was gonna it's gonna go wolf or fox. Oh this is a pretty animal, very pretty. Yeah.

No, I reached for dog because I thought wolf, but they I thought of a different sound when I thought of wolf, that I should have thought of a different sound and I thought of hyena.

But uh, but I mean, you were circling it, right, because it is it is a confuse. You were really circling around it because it is a confusing animal because it kind of looks like a wolf, kind of looks like a fox, has really long legs, actually has that kind of mane like a hyena does. Although a hyena is not that closely related to uh, the CA nine species. Hyenas are actually more related to mongooses and felines. So the mained wolf is really really interesting canid. So it

Yeah, I love that. I love that it's called a wolf apple. It's just like an apple just for them. Guess who else loves apples, Katie Golden.

I mean, that's that would be weird if I was just like guess who else likes apples?

Mem will love apples. The camels do love apples. I can see.

No. My dog, my dog doll, loves apples.

Oh, Cookie loves apples.

She will come running when she hears and I do I like apples. I wouldn't say like, I love them. I'm not crazy for them, but I like them. I'll eat them. And but when I do eat them, Cookie just gallops into the room and sits next to me and starts licking your lips because she knows she's about to get some little little bites apples, some apple.

Oh yeah, that's cute. They're funny when they eat, when they eat crunchy foods, she loves.

Yeah, she loves apples, bell peppers, cucumbers. It's it's pretty yeah. Yeah, she's kind of like one of those oulcumbers.

Yeah.

Yeah, dogs love cucumbers. That's our family dog. We couldn't say no to treats for her, so we transitioned her to cucumbers.

And you love them. I love it.

There's something about the crunchiness, the hydration.

They love it.

Give your dog a cucumber, give your dog a dog, give it a give it a cue cover.

They'll be so happy.

So yeah, these main wolves, I think they're one of the most gorgeous canids. They have these long legs that like have these black socks like they're wearing. Kind of gives me the vibe of like Martisha wearing those that long long black gloves.

Yeah.

Yeah, they got elegance.

Yeah, and like I'm seeing them like mid step and they walk. Yeah, they have a very pretty walk.

Yes, very very runway runway walk. They have this fluffy black mane on the nape of their necks. And they're actually the tallest wild canid at around three feet or ninety centimeters tall uh and sixty five pounds they're on, which is thirty kilograms and they live in the grasslands of the Serrado, which is a tropical savannah region in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia.

Rules.

Yeah, they're the they're the largest South American canine. They are actually not a pack animal. They live mostly solitary lives. They use this roar bark to warn others of its territory or to communicate with a mate about where it is, where its location is, which it also does the same thing with the urine. It uses its urine to communicate. But I can't share mained wolf urine over a podcast, so that's why I shared it instead.

I know.

Two bad podcasts don't come in smell a vision, because I'd have some interesting smells for you folks.

Yeah, their puppies are cute, so cute.

Look they're playing with their pups. These guys are good, good animal.

Good good animal, and good job. I got a lot of correct guesses out there, and uh so, congratulations guys you. I'm always really impressed that listeners are able to get these. I feel like, even though I make the game, I would not be as good at playing it as a lot of my listeners are.

Yeah, it's tricky. I'm impressed, Yes, thoroughly impressed.

I got I got some smart listeners. So uh now onto this week's mystery animal.

Sound a hint.

You might find these little dudes boogying to an imaginary beat, but it's probably for the prey that lie deep beneath their feet. Mh, so bridget who do you think is squawking?

Oh god, that was Is it like a heron or something?

And an interest sting guests and I will reveal the answer to this week's mystery animal sound on next week's podcast next Wednesday. If you out there think you know who is squawking, you can write to me at Creature Feature Pod at gmail dot com. You can also find me on Twitter at Creature feet Pod. Uh, that's f e eight, not f e e t. That is something very different. You can also find me on Instagram at Creature Feature Pod. I'm also on Twitter at Katie Golden.

Yeah, yeah, of course, thanks for having me.

Where where can the people find you?

Yeah, you can find me doing podcasts over on the Small Beans Network and my co host Sarah Griffith are right now going through movie trilogies on a series called Shooting threes, so check that out as we review those and all the fun stuff that's going on over at the small Beans network. You can follow me at bridget tweets on Twitter. That's normally where I post all my videos that I'm bacon and fun stuff like that. And yeah, that's where I'm at these nests.

And thank you so much for listening. If you're enjoying the podcast and you want me to know about it, if you leave a review or rating, I would so very much appreciate it. I'll even inflate my mouthsack for you if that's what you want. But yeah, I read all the reviews. It really makes my day when I read a new review. Really appreciate it. And yeah, it does help out the show because it goes into the algorithm and it like tells the algorithm, Hey, people are

And thanks to the space.

Cossics for their super awesome song. Ex Alumina Creature features a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts like the one you just heard, visit the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or Hey guess what listen I'm in lovel with you wherever you listen to your shows.

I'm not I'm not keeping track. You can do. You can listen to this podcast.

In any way, shape or form that you want, and no one is going to.

Ar rescue, so enjoy that.

See you next Wednesday.