Humpty Dumpty

 "The camel's hump is an ugly lump, which well you may see at the Zoo

But uglier yet is the hump we get, from having too little to do."

- Rudyard Kipling

I've seldom gotten my way with naming animals, though I do think I come up with some pretty nifty ideas - though the groans of co-workers might suggest that this is not a universal opinion.  For example. when we had a baby llama (called a "cria") born at one zoo I worked at, I suggested the name Humphrey.  Because a llama is basically a camel, but it's... hump-free.  I had to dodge a well-aimed tomatoes after that suggestion, which led me to the future rule of no more puns in the commissary.

Camels have several adaptations that make them exceptional survivalists in the desert.  They have broad, flat feet that help support their weight on the shifting sands.  They have long eyelashes to keep the sand out of their eyes during storms.  Their nostrils trap water vapor for their exhalation for reabsorption into their bodies.  And, of course, there is their signature feature, the hump.

Contrary to popular belief, the hump is not actually a water tank.  Well, not directly, anyway.  You won't hear any sloshing sound as one walks by.  It's actually a source of fat.   Now, fat does release water when it is broken down - but the process takes water as well, so it's not really the storage system you might think it is.  And it wouldn't be accurate to say that camels don't need water.  They love to drink.  A big bull camel can drink over 50 gallons in three minutes.  That was driven home to me one hot summer day when I visited our camels and saw that they had tipped their water trough, and it was almost empty.  I started to refill it, and one of them started drinking a minute later - I was unable to actually make the water level rise until he stopped drinking - he was sucking it up faster than the hose could refill it.

So camels don't store water (apologies to the Camelback water bottle brand) - they aren't even the mammals that can go the longest without it.  They are just really, really good at not wasting the water that they have consumed.  Their urine is more like a syrup than a liquid, and their poop is so dry that, from the moment it comes out the back end, it's a perfectly usable source of fire fuel.  Their kidneys and intestines can wring the last drop to make sure nothing is wasted.  Their blood cells are uniquely adapted to go back and forth from dehydration to sudden influxes of oceans of drinking water.

Factoids like this impress upon me two lessons.  First of all, we should never let our mythology about an animal impact the care it receives.  I remember scolding a new keeper once who had neglected to water the camels on a hot day, only for her to look at me like I was an idiot and say, "...they're camels.  They'll be fine."  She didn't last too long in the profession.  Secondly, there are lots of "facts" about animals which are untrue.   Rather than propagate those legends by passing them down year after year, even when we know they are false, as some sort of traditional lore, we should strive to teach future generations the truth.  

When it comes to animals, the truth is often much, much cooler than the story.