(Intro)

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 what we've 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 had an interesting thought.  You know what wearing this backpack makes me think of?  A camel!  My backpack is kind of like a camel's 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 heayv.  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's 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 100 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.  Our hiking boots, which help us keep our feet firmly planted on the ground.  Camels 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, too, 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 sand starts 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 eye lashes, so that sand won't blow in their eyes, plus, they can actually close their nostrils when it gets super windy, so sand 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 pinching them shut, but then again, we're not planning to walk through any sandstorms today.

With our food, our water, and our hiking boots, we're prepared to hike like expert camels.  Well, Squeaks, I think it's time to start our hike, and I can't wait to eat my cheese sandwich.

Thanks for joining us.  If you want to keep learning about our amazing world with Squeaks and me, hit the subscribe button and don't forget to check us out on the YouTube Kids app.  Thanks, and we'll see you next time here at the Fort.  

(Endscreen)