squeaks and I are getting ready to go on a hike I've got my big backpack with all
sorts of stuff for both of us let's see we got we have a big bag of trail mix a
water bottle and two cheese sandwiches one for you and one for me you're right
I think we are ready for our hike now squeaks I just have an interesting
thought you know what wearing this backpack makes me think of a camel my
backpack is kind of like a camel hump and not just because it sort of looks
like a hump we're kind of like camels today because camels are some of the
best hikers out there and what's in my backpack gives us a clue about why take
the sandwiches for example they're just like what camels keep inside their humps
fat and a lot of it this backpack makes me look like a camel with one hump but
there are also camels that have two humps the humps are still the same made
of fat but each type of camel has a special name a camel with one hump is
called a dromedary or sometimes an Arabian camel and a camel with two humps
is called a Bactrian camel a camel's hump can weigh as much as 35 kilograms
which is pretty heavy it's like two of those gigantic bottles of water we use
for the water cooler at the fort all that fat gives camels lots of energy
which they really need camels live in the desert where they have to go without
food for a long time and by using up the extra fat when they need energy they can
survive for three weeks without food right
we can't live off our cheese sandwiches for three weeks but along with the trail
mix they'll give us energy for the day and cheese is mostly fat just like a
camel's hump you'd need almost 200 sandwiches to get to 35 kilograms now
that's a lot of cheese sandwiches as a camel uses up the fat in their hump for
energy the hump actually shrinks down and when they eat more it gets big again
another way we're like camels is because of our water bottle a camel's hump isn't
filled with water like this bottle it's just fat but camels can go a really long
time without water depending on the time of year
if it summer they can go almost a week without
water and if it's winter they can go six or seven months without it we definitely
can't do that so how do camels go all that time without water
well when camels drink water they can drink tons of water at one time around a
hundred liters that's about as much as a big trash can if a camel comes to say a
lake in the desert they'll drink and drink and drink because it might be a
very long time until they find another lake and they can drink it pretty fast
too it usually takes camels less than 15
minutes to drink all that water camels also hold onto water differently than we
do they don't sweat very much so they don't lose much water that way although
they do still lose more water when it's hot out which is why they need to drink
more water in the summer camels don't pee that much either so they drink a lot
and then they hold on to it now there's one more thing that makes us awesome
hikers like camels are hiking boots which help us keep our feet firmly
planted on the ground Campbell's live in the desert where the sand can be kind of
hard to walk on think about how difficult it can be to walk through a
big mound of sand especially if it's windy out and the sand is moving around
and the desert can be rocky - so camels have their own version of hiking boots
their feet are wide padded and pretty tough so they can walk on the sand
without any problems and what about when it gets super windy in the desert and
the CN stars blowing around all over the place
yep camels are totally ready for that too
they have big eyebrows three sets of eyelids and two rows of eyelashes so
that sand won't blow in their eyes plus they can actually close their nostrils
when it gets super windy so Santa won't blow up their nose either we don't have
three sets of eyelids and the only way we can close our nostrils is by pitching
them shut but then again we're not planning to walk through any sandstorms
today with our food our water and hiking boots
we're prepared to hike like expert camels last weeks I think it's time to
start our hike and I can't wait to eat my cheese sandwich thanks for joining us
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thanks next time here at the fort