Call a Camel!

If the idea of getting stuck in the desert makes you a bit nervous, take a camel. Sure, water and food are nice, but nothing beats a camel for your one-way ticket back home. Okay, so they can be cranky, and they sometimes bite. But God designed them to take the heat without much trouble.

Here are 6 ways camels are designed to thrive in their harsh desert environment:

1. It’s All in the Hump

The first features that help camels beat the heat are the most obvious: humps. Arabian camels—also known as dromedary (DROM-uh-dare-ee) camels—have one hump, and Bactrian (BACK-tree-un) camels have two. But those humps aren’t filled with sloshy water. No, siree. They’re made of fat! In the desert, there’s not always a large lunch to eat (or any lunch), so a camel needs to store up for long walks across the hot sand.

One Hump = Dromedary

Two Humps = Bactrian

2. Three Eyelids Are Better Than One

There’s nothing wrong with two eyelids, of course. But when you’re a desert-loving ungulate (UN-gue-let, a fancy word for “animal with hooves”), three eyelids are even better. God gave camels a third eyelid that can swipe away dust and protect their eyes from the occasional dust storm.

3. Sure, No Sweat

God made you to sweat. As soon as the temperature rises, boom! The sweat starts gushing out to keep you cool. But camels look at all that water you’re losing and shake their heads (well, they could be shaking away flies, but still). Even when the temperature outside rises to as high as 120ºF (49ºC), they hardly lose a drop. That means they can travel the dusty terrain without missing a step. (As for you, make sure to guzzle lots of water.)

4. They “Nose” How To Save Water

Did you ever think about how much water you lose when you breathe out through your nose? Try it. Breathe out gently on a cool window and see how much it fogs up. Well, God gave camels a nose that keeps them from losing very much of the water they breathe out. Large spiral bumps inside their nostrils catch the water vapor and absorb it back into their bodies. Camels can also shut their nostrils tightly to keep sand out.

5. Some Tough Lips

When you thrive in the desert, you can’t be too picky about your food. But what if that food is covered in thorns? Well, if you’re a camel, the answer is, “Chow down.” To allow camels to deal with the thorns and thistles of our sin-cursed world, the Creator gave them a tough mouth and lips that can handle the prickliest desert delicacies.

6. A Water Vacuum

If you happen to come upon water while trekking through the desert, you won’t have to wait long on the camel to refill. These nifty creatures can slurp up as much as 25 gallons of water in about 10 minutes. In other words, if they came upon a kiddie pool, they’d have it drained in no time.