Why do camels spit. Why does a camel spit? Animal cruelty is unacceptable

Everyone who has been to the zoo approaches the enclosure with camels with extreme caution - no one wants to be spat upon by a humpbacked artiodactyl. Therefore, in order to dispel fears and not turn a pleasant meeting with a cute animal into an incident, you need to understand why the camel spits and whether a person can become its potential “target”.

Saliva as a weapon and a way of self-defense

Camel - far from and wasting precious saliva in harsh climatic conditions living, spitting from "nothing to do" right and left, the animal will not. Indeed, in the desert, where water is worth its weight in gold, the loss of saliva will mean the loss of one's own accumulated fluid. The answer to the question of why a camel spits is actually quite simple. In the fight for a female during mating games, everyone is used possible ways to neutralize and defeat an opponent: hoof strikes, pushing with the chest, bites with a massive jaw, and, among other things, spitting with viscous and fetid saliva.

The consistency of this liquid is chewing gum. And often a camel uses it as self-defense against predators. To avoid sad consequences, when a predator enters the field of view of an artiodactyl, a good portion of camel saliva is sent straight into the eyes of the first for the purpose of blinding.

The humpbacked animal in this case gains an advantage in time and can immobilize the predator. To this end, it grabs with its powerful jaw a “spitted” enemy, trying to clear the muzzle of saliva and restore vision, and throws it 2-3 meters above the ground. And the animal that has already landed presses down to the ground with its massive body, the predator has practically no chance to get out from under it.

The use of saliva in such cases is a completely logical action on the part of a ruminant herbivore - the animal is driven by the principle of survival, and he simply does not want to be killed. But why a camel spits at people is not always clear.

Is digestion to blame?

In fact, a person who behaves absolutely calmly next to this animal can only get a spit from him purely by chance. There is an opinion that their disregard”he shows because of the peculiarities of his digestion. In the process of chewing in the mouth of an artiodactyl accumulates a large number of saliva, the excess of which a camel can only get rid of by spitting it out. And if at that moment there was a person nearby, then he can become an involuntary target.

Spit of resentment

Another version of the answer to the question of why a camel spits at people who are harmless to him at first glance is from resentment. Aggressive behavior in relation to an animal, for example, throwing sticks or stones in its direction, can be regarded by a camel as an act of attack. And the only available way of protection for these animals is just the use of unpleasant and fetid saliva. The same situation can be observed when trying to scare, tease or make grimaces to an animal - it will definitely “revenge”. Therefore, being next to him, it is worth remembering why the camel spits at people and opponents, and offending the animal is highly discouraged.

The fact that camels spit is known even to children. When we ask our many visitors to the farm what you know about camels, we almost always hear the answer - they spit.

This unequivocal answer may have been facilitated by the scene from the movie "Gentlemen of Fortune", where a camel spits at one of the characters. It looks funny and funny, but, for the one who received the spit, for sure, it’s quite insulting.

Do camels still spit? And if they spit, then why and on whom? Let's take it in order. Do camels spit?

Yes, they spit. But in order for this form of response to external stimuli to be applied to animals, one must try very hard. A camel has a very stable psyche and is capable of thinking through its behavior and way of responding before taking any action to change its environment. With all its appearance, the camel demonstrates equanimity, pride and ... arrogance. Yes, it is an arrogant look at the world distinguishes this amazing animal from other representatives of the animal world. However, see for yourself.

At the same time, a camel is a proud animal and will not tolerate bullying. If he doesn’t like something, if you are trying to offend an animal or just make faces at him, and camels are very touchy, then it is highly likely that with all his appearance he will demonstrate his readiness and desire to “reimburse” the moral damage inflicted on him. But, first , he will show with all his appearance that he is not satisfied with the situation that has arisen and it is better for the irritant to leave his field of vision.

And if the source of irritation of the animal did not realize the situation, then, most likely, he will experience all the “charm” of camel saliva, which is a viscous substance from the stomach and has a very unpleasant odor.

When communicating with any animals, people should always remember that the behavioral reactions of animals are determined by instincts - these are innate, genetically fixed abilities and behaviors of animals.

Spitting is a manifestation of the protective instinct of camels, which sometimes helps him defend himself from attacking predators. Camels spit during mating tournaments in order to win the right to "love" relationships with the beautiful half of the camel world.

So, if you do not want to experience discomfort and find yourself in the role of Oblique from "Gentlemen of Fortune" - never get on the nerves of a camel and do not try to tease him. To the credit of our pets, for the entire period of being on our farm, they did not have a reason for such a reaction to external irritating factors.

Yes, and they could not do this also because adults and children with a pure soul and a good heart come to visit them. Our pets are still very well brought up, and they also enjoy communicating with their guests.

"The camel thought he was a giraffe,

And he walks with his head up.

It makes people laugh

And he, a camel, spits on everyone.”

Boris Zakhoder

Even kids know about the famous savory spitting of this unusual animal. Why does a camel spit while living and traveling in a hot desert? In places where saving liquid is the main condition for a normal existence and survival? Why does this strange animal spend precious moisture so carelessly? Why do camels spit? The answer is curious and interesting.

Features of camel digestion

Powerful desert beauties belong to the class of mammals. Large, powerful animals are ideally adapted to life in dry and hot regions. Desert dwellers value their four-legged helpers, calling them "the ship of the desert." There are two types of camels in the world:

Its existence is associated with hot, dusty and arid deserts, where water savings are at a premium. The food available to animals in these areas is extremely limited. But nature, creating desert mammals, took care of their lives. A ruminant animal has a number of digestive features and a unique ability to retain moisture. This helps them survive in unbearable conditions.

Where is the water stored. The "ship of the desert" can do without water for a long time (up to 1.5-2 weeks). But, as soon as the animal gets to the watering place, the greedy absorption of water begins. At one time, a camel is able to drink 6-7 buckets of water. But moisture does not accumulate in the body.

The rumor that a ruminant accumulates fluid in its humps is a myth. Fat reserves are carefully stored there, saving from the hungry period.

In a camel, water is completely absorbed by the body, it, like in other representatives of the world of fauna, is excreted through the mucous membrane and sweat glands. But the "ship of the desert" is able to accumulate moisture in its blood. Such a talent helps to feel great during droughts. When breathing, evaporated moisture is retained by large nasolabial folds and sent back to oral cavity.

Also, the desert animal does not know how to sweat, and with feces they lose little moisture. Animal droppings consist of vegetable dry fibers. Camel feces contain 7-8 times less moisture than other ruminants, which helps the animal save precious moisture.

How is the food. The camel surprises with its ability to eat dry plants with sharp thorns. Such food contains moisture in minimal quantities. The camel has a unique, complex structure of the stomach - it is multi-chambered and consists of three sections:

1. Scar.
2. Net.
3. Abomasum.

The abomasum is the only section supplied with a mucous membrane. In fact, he is the true stomach. The scar and mesh are covered with keratinizing epithelial tissues and have a curious structure: papillae are located in the scar, up to a centimeter high, and in the mesh there are honeycomb-like cellular folds.

The scar is assigned the role of a fermentation chamber. Food eaten by animals for a long time located in the rumen (due to the movable walls, it is crushed). The constant chewing movements of the animal help the grinding of food, in which the food is regularly burped back into the oral cavity, chewed again, mixed with saliva and swallowed.

Scientists have found that there is no urea in camel urine. She goes back to the rumen of the stomach, where she takes part in the digestion of food and protein synthesis.

The process is repeated over and over again. Therefore, the camel chews all the time, swallows, burps and chews half-digested food again. The animal always has a lump of digestive juices, saliva and semi-digested food in its mouth. Can you imagine what kind of "flavor" a camel mushy burp has? With this "stinky, snot-like projectile" the camel spits.

As soon as the repeatedly digested food reaches the desired consistency, the scar transports it to other parts of the digestive tract. Due to the unique structure of the digestive tract, repeated digestion of food, the camel can easily go without food for up to 30 days.

The famous camel spit

clear, strict rules, there is no explanation for indecent camel behavior. Zoologists identify four moments when an animal expectorates liquid, saliva-like and fetid chewing gum with amazing accuracy.

Body reaction

The lump that accumulates in the camel's mouth and consists of gastric juice, half-digested thorns, plant roots, dry stems, swells and becomes too large. In this case, spitting is chaotic and performed for the amusement of the public from time to time. This happens quite rarely.

Spitting at an opponent

Power animals become adults at 3-5 years. The responsible time for the fulfillment of the natural duty to continue their unpretentious camel genus annually comes to sexually mature males. Pairing!

camels mating season starts in winter. Males require a female from December-February until the onset of summer.

During mating courtship, the character and behavior of a powerful animal completely changes. The reaction of a calm camel to others also changes. He becomes an aggressive, dangerous and jealous rival. At this time, showing off and luring females, the camel makes loud bubbling sounds.

Excited animals secrete a huge amount of salivary eructation. White frothy foam hangs from the newly appeared groom on the sides of the mouth and muzzle. The male, passionately desiring love, inflates giant bubbles to attract the attention of females. It makes an impression!

And scares away the same coveted and excited camels. The struggle for the female begins, mating tournaments (it is better to watch them from afar - during mating games, an angry camel is dangerous to humans). Rivals kick each other with long muscular legs, bite and spit accurately.

The camel's frightening spit with its tongue hanging out becomes especially effective. According to camel beliefs, such a tasty, smelly spit, accompanied by a putrid smell from the mouth, frightens the opponent even more during mating tournaments. Humpbacked "gladiators" fight so fiercely in mating battles that they inflict serious injuries on each other.

Spit at the enemy

The apathetic inhabitants of the desert have no obvious enemies, but the danger threatens the little camels. Cubs are the object of attacks of hungry wolves. If a predator that threatens the offspring suddenly finds itself in the field of view of an adult animal, the camel does not hesitate. Standing in the pose of a sniper fighter, he sends a stinky viscous slurry from his mouth into the attacking beast with an accurate, well-aimed spit. The spit turns into a means of self-defense.

This method of protection is effective and justifies itself. While the enemy, stunned and in a stupor from the smell and an abundance of belching, is trying to clear his eyes and muzzle from spitting, the camel will attack the poor fellow with a triumphant cry. Grasping it powerful jaws behind the scruff, the camel throws the enemy up to a distance of 2-3 meters.

As soon as the beast lands on the ground, the phlegmatic desert dweller instantly leans on the predator with a heavy body (the weight of a camel reaches 800-900 kg). On the chest of the animal is a kind of callus, hard, resembling concrete. With this callus, the camel "presses" the predator into the ground and sends it to a complete knockout.

Under distribution man

Rarely, but there are cases when camels spit at people. But to deserve a well-aimed, sticky "kiss" from the mouth of a camel, you need to try. Domesticated camels become attached to people, consider them masters and obey people. Spitting at a person is very rare. More often they go to tourists who annoy an animal that is calm in nature.

Try to offend the camel, make faces, tease. Make frightening, threatening movements with your hands, and you run the risk of repeating the fate of the hero Savely Kramarov from the comedy "Gentlemen of Fortune".

The salivary eructation of an angry animal can completely stick around the upper part of the human body. The burp has a gum-like consistency and is hard to peel off!

The color of fetid saliva with the smell of gastric masses has a different shade (from greenish to brown). It depends on the food eaten. A spitting camel treats an impudent human creature in the same way as with an enemy (grabs its head, throws it up and leans on its carcass).

Do not anger the proud representative of the deserted, hot world! Large, sedate, slow animals are extremely touchy and proud. It is not recommended for anyone to mock the "ships of the desert"!

Good luck on your desert travels!

Even kids know about the famous savory spitting of this unusual animal. Why does a camel spit while living and traveling in a hot desert? In places where saving liquid is the main condition for a normal existence and survival?

Why does this strange animal spend precious moisture so carelessly? Why do camels spit? The answer is curious and interesting.

Features of camel digestion

Powerful desert beauties belong to the class of mammals. Large, powerful animals are ideally adapted to life in dry and hot regions. Desert dwellers value their four-legged helpers, calling them "the ship of the desert."

There are two types of camels in the world:

• Bactrian or Bactrian.
• One-humped or dromedary (Arabian).

Its existence is associated with hot, dusty and arid deserts, where water savings are at a premium. The food available to animals in these areas is extremely limited. But nature, creating desert mammals, took care of their lives. A ruminant animal has a number of digestive features and a unique ability to retain moisture. This helps them survive in unbearable conditions.

Where is the water stored. The "ship of the desert" can do without water for a long time (up to 1.5-2 weeks). But, as soon as the animal gets to the watering place, the greedy absorption of water begins. At one time, a camel is able to drink 6-7 buckets of water. But moisture does not accumulate in the body.

The rumor that a ruminant accumulates fluid in its humps is a myth. Fat reserves are carefully stored there, saving from the hungry period.

In a camel, water is completely absorbed by the body, it, like in other representatives of the world of fauna, is excreted through the mucous membrane and sweat glands. But the "ship of the desert" is able to accumulate moisture in its blood. Such a talent helps to feel great during droughts. When breathing, the evaporated moisture is retained by large nasolabial folds and sent back to the oral cavity.

Also, the desert animal does not know how to sweat, and with feces they lose little moisture. Animal droppings consist of vegetable dry fibers. Camel feces contain 7-8 times less moisture than other ruminants, which helps the animal save precious moisture.

How is the food. The camel surprises with its ability to eat dry plants with sharp thorns. Such food contains moisture in minimal quantities. The camel has a unique, complex structure of the stomach - it is multi-chambered and consists of three sections:

1. Scar.
2. Net.
3. Abomasum.

The abomasum is the only section supplied with a mucous membrane. In fact, he is the true stomach. The scar and mesh are covered with keratinizing epithelial tissues and have a curious structure: papillae are located in the scar, up to a centimeter high, and in the mesh there are honeycomb-like cellular folds.

The scar is assigned the role of a fermentation chamber. The food eaten by the animal stays in the rumen for a long time (thanks to the movable walls, it is crushed). The constant chewing movements of the animal help the grinding of food, in which the food is regularly burped back into the oral cavity, chewed again, mixed with saliva and swallowed.

Scientists have found that there is no urea in camel urine. She goes back to the rumen of the stomach, where she takes part in the digestion of food and protein synthesis.

The process is repeated over and over again. Therefore, the camel chews all the time, swallows, burps and chews half-digested food again. The animal always has a lump of digestive juices, saliva and semi-digested food in its mouth. Can you imagine what kind of "flavor" a camel mushy burp has? With this "stinky, snot-like projectile" the camel spits.

As soon as the repeatedly digested food reaches the desired consistency, the scar transports it to other parts of the digestive tract. Due to the unique structure of the digestive tract, repeated digestion of food, the camel can easily go without food for up to 30 days.

The famous camel spit

There are no clear, strict rules, explanations for indecent camel behavior. Zoologists identify four moments when an animal expectorates liquid, saliva-like and fetid chewing gum with amazing accuracy.

Body reaction

The lump that accumulates in the camel's mouth and consists of gastric juice, half-digested thorns, plant roots, dry stems, swells and becomes too large. In this case, spitting is chaotic and performed for the amusement of the public from time to time. This happens quite rarely.

Spitting at an opponent

Power animals become adults at 3-5 years. The responsible time for the fulfillment of the natural duty to continue their unpretentious camel genus annually comes to sexually mature males. Pairing! Camels' mating season begins in winter. Males require a female from December-February until the onset of summer.

During mating courtship, the character and behavior of a powerful animal completely changes. The reaction of a calm camel to others also changes. He becomes an aggressive, dangerous and jealous rival. At this time, showing off and luring females, the camel makes loud bubbling sounds.

Excited animals secrete a huge amount of salivary eructation. White frothy foam hangs from the newly appeared groom on the sides of the mouth and muzzle. The male, passionately desiring love, inflates giant bubbles to attract the attention of females. It makes an impression!

And scares away the same coveted and excited camels. The struggle for the female begins, mating tournaments (it is better to watch them from afar - during mating games, an angry camel is dangerous to humans). Rivals kick each other with long muscular legs, bite and spit accurately.

The camel's frightening spit with its tongue hanging out becomes especially effective. According to camel beliefs, such a tasty, smelly spit, accompanied by a putrid smell from the mouth, frightens the opponent even more during mating tournaments. Humpbacked "gladiators" fight so fiercely in mating battles that they inflict serious injuries on each other.

Spit at the enemy

The apathetic inhabitants of the desert have no obvious enemies, but the danger threatens the little camels. Cubs are the object of attacks of hungry wolves. If a predator that threatens the offspring suddenly finds itself in the field of view of an adult animal, the camel does not hesitate. Standing in the pose of a sniper fighter, he sends a stinky viscous slurry from his mouth into the attacking beast with an accurate, well-aimed spit. The spit turns into a means of self-defense.

This method of protection is effective and justifies itself. While the enemy, stunned and in a stupor from the smell and an abundance of belching, is trying to clear his eyes and muzzle from spitting, the camel will attack the poor fellow with a triumphant cry. Grasping his powerful jaws by the scruff of the neck, the camel throws the enemy up to a distance of 2-3 meters.

As soon as the beast lands on the ground, the phlegmatic desert dweller instantly leans on the predator with a heavy body (the weight of a camel reaches 800-900 kg). On the chest of the animal is a kind of callus, hard, resembling concrete. With this callus, the camel "presses" the predator into the ground and sends it to a complete knockout.

Under distribution man

Rarely, but there are cases when camels spit at people. But to deserve a well-aimed, sticky "kiss" from the mouth of a camel, you need to try. Domesticated camels become attached to people, consider them masters and obey people. Spitting at a person is very rare. More often they go to tourists who annoy an animal that is calm in nature.

Try to offend the camel, make faces, tease. Make frightening, threatening movements with your hands, and you run the risk of repeating the fate of the hero Savely Kramarov from the comedy "Gentlemen of Fortune". The salivary eructation of an angry animal can completely stick around the upper part of the human body. The burp has a gum-like consistency and is hard to peel off!

The color of fetid saliva with the smell of gastric masses has a different shade (from greenish to brown). It depends on the food eaten. A spitting camel treats an impudent human creature in the same way as with an enemy (grabs its head, throws it up and leans on its carcass).

Do not anger the proud representative of the deserted, hot world! Large, sedate, slow animals are extremely touchy and proud. It is not recommended for anyone to mock the "ships of the desert"!

Camels can spit - even children know about it. A funny feature of the animal was captured in films, for example, in “Gentlemen of Fortune”, it was mentioned in children's poems, encyclopedias. But why does this animal behave in this way? The whole body of a camel is aimed at saving, preserving moisture, but at the same time it spits, spending it, it would seem, completely thoughtlessly. How could nature allow this?

Turns out, strange behavior desert animal is not accidental. Understanding the details of the issue, you can understand why they spit.

Camel digestion

Camels are mammals, ruminant herbivores. They are indeed well adapted to hot and dry climates, both of which exist today. Camels are two-humped, which are also called Bactrians, and one-humped - Arabians, or dromedaries. Today, there are also artificially bred mestizos of these two species. All of them are perfectly adapted to dryness and lack of food, their digestive system is the key to survival in an unfavorable climate.

The camel is able to store water - the stock, which is contained in the body after a good watering place, is enough for 1.5 - 2 weeks. Once a camel gets to a watering hole, he can drink 6-7 buckets of water at a time, and it will be completely absorbed by the body, and will not go into a hump - this is a myth. In the hump, the camel carries only fat reserves for the hungry period. The accumulation of water occurs in the blood, and its evaporation and excretion by the body is minimized due to many protective mechanisms.

: even the moisture evaporated during breathing returns back, flowing down the nasolabial folds into the oral cavity. Camels do not know how to sweat, only a minimum of moisture comes out with feces.

Protective mechanisms allow the camel to eat dry thorns; the multi-chamber stomach successfully digests such food. There is no mucous membrane in the rumen, mesh, other digestive organs of the camel, it is only in the abomasum. The process of food fermentation and digestion is continuous, the camel chews food repeatedly, burping it up, and such a lump of semi-digested food, saliva and digestive juices is in his mouth almost constantly. It is to them that he spits - this is a very fetid and unpleasant mass.

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Causes that encourage a camel to spit

Occasionally it happens that the food bolus in the mouth is too large. In this case, the camel may spit without aiming at anyone, but this rarely happens. Usually spitting is done intentionally, at a specific target, which is hit with amazing accuracy. Males spit especially actively during the mating season. They reach maturity at 3-5 years of age, and in winter time participate in mating games. They become aggressive and excitable, inflate large bubbles of saliva. Competing for a female, males can fight, bite, spit.

Also, spitting is used for self-defense, protection of cubs. Camels have obvious enemies in natural environment actually not, but camels can be attacked by wolves. A well-aimed spit turns out to be a fetid mixture effective tool defense. A stunned, disoriented predator itself becomes a target for the aggression of camels, which successfully trample enemies with their feet and bite.

People rarely get a camel spit, but this happens too. Being domesticated, these animals are strongly attached to people, tend to obey them, especially the owner. Usually the victims of spitting are those people who are not familiar to the animal, these are primarily tourists. A camel can spit if you make threatening gestures in his direction, tease him, shout.

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This behavior should be avoided, since saliva with food burping has an extremely unpleasant odor, it sticks very strongly, and it is difficult to wash it off. And the volumes of the spitting out substance can be such that the spit will stick around the entire upper part of the human body. In addition, camel aggression may not end with spitting alone, the animal may attack by biting the head or trying to crush with the weight of its body.

Camel spitting is a defensive reaction, a way to stun the enemy before a direct attack, or discourage him from attacking. This behavior works great, few people want to be spat on by fetid masses from saliva, gastric juice and half-digested food.

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