Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash 

The herbivorous camel usually eats around 2% of its body weight in grasses, herbs, and leaves every day when fed by its owner. Favorite foods include dates, wheat, and oats. They will usually drink around 30 gallons of water at a time, and a comfortable camel may drink only once for 2 weeks.

Though they can comfortably go up to a week without eating, they still have to at some point on their journeys. But when the time comes to find food in the desert wasteland, camels know that beggars can't be choosers. They'll eat almost anything they can find- shrubs, seeds, and even bone marrow from other desert travelers who didn't make it. They are also conservative- when they find a shrub, they will eat only its leaves, so that it may grow back with low stress in the future.

They were also given the fascinating ability to eat cacti: the tops of their mouths are hard, and their jaws chew in a circular motion to carefully maneuver the spiny cactus toward the throat. Additionally, they have almost plastic-like papillae lining the insides of their mouths, which guide the cactus spines downward and protect the softer parts of the mouth. Even with these features, eating a cactus can be as painful as you'd imagine, but apparently for a camel, it's worth it for the taste.

A sexually mature male (6+ years old) and female (4+) will mate in the winter. If their habitat features more camels, the male may breed with multiple females. Pregnancy typically lasts 15 months and mom will give birth to a single calf, but like humans they have the capacity to carry twins. Females will usually give birth around every 2 years, so in her 50-year lifespan, a camel may mother up to 25 calves.

The calf will be able to walk within a day of birth, and will wean by the age of 2. Though independent, the calf will still follow its mother closely for several years until mature and confident around age 5.

As social animals, camels will form a group of 2-20 members, including a male, his female partners, and their calves. They will play, roll in the sand, and sleep side-by-side as a family unit. They will also communicate vocally, with deep growls and groans.

A working duty or racing camel will retire around age 25 and live the rest of its life grazing in peace.

Photo by Saj Shafique on Unsplash

Photo by Juanma Clemente-Alloza on Unsplash 

Our favorite game series Animal Crossing features a camel named Sahara who sells exotic rugs, carpets, and walls. She wears a teal vest and a backpack filled to the brim with all kinds of rolled-up rugs.

Late actor Marlon Brando once stated "The most repulsive thing you could ever imagine is the inside of a camel's mouth". It's true that their fascinating abilities to eat anything in the desert do not bode well for looks.

In my favorite movie of all time, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, camels are featured very briefly, mostly for this notable gag. One of the major set pieces in that movie is the filming location of Petra, in Jordan. On the left is a great photo of a camel taking a rest there.

Lawrence of Arabia also features camels prominently throughout, mostly as transportation through the desert.