# I'd run a mile from a camel. đ«
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 13, 2022, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974 "2022-03-13T11:20:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2022, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/1 "2022-03-13T11:20:18Z")
Interesting. I always thought of camels as more spitty, less murdery.
[https://nordot.app/875592566235955200?c=592622757532812385](https://nordot.app/875592566235955200?c=592622757532812385)
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2022, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/2 "2022-03-13T12:49:35Z")
Serial camel or spree camel?
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### Author:  [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/3 "2022-03-14T01:08:25Z")
Joe fell on hard times after losing that lucrative advertising gig.
If only there were something he could do to calm his nerves, and look suave doing itâŠ
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2022, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/4 "2022-03-14T01:33:07Z")
The camel killed Rockyâs turncoat protege from _Rocky V_?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/5 "2022-03-14T20:53:17Z")
Sad that people died, but now I _really_ want to read that police report. Especially the detail necessary for an âofficer involved shootingâ report.
Also, Dromedary or Bactrian?
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/6 "2022-03-14T20:55:03Z")
How can a guy named Tommy Gunn be killed by a camel? Shouldnât he have been killed by a machine gun? Or, at least he should have been spraying machine gun fire while being killed by the camel.
Given all the trumped up camel killing statistics (hospitals get more money if youâre killed by a camel), I want to know, was he killed by a camel, or did he just happen to have camel?
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### Author:  [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/7 "2022-03-14T21:23:22Z")
A few more camel factsâŠ
> **[Australian feral camel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camel)**
>
> Australian feral camels are introduced populations of dromedary, or one-humped, camel (Camelus dromedariusâfrom North Africa, the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent). Imported as valuable beasts-of-burden from British India and Afghanistan during the 19th century (for transport and sustenance during the exploration and colonisation of the Red Centre), many were casually released into the wild after motorised transport negated the use of camels in the early 20th century. This resulted in a...
> By 2008, it was feared that Central Australiaâs feral camel population had grown to about one million and was projected to double every 8 to 10 years. Camels are known to cause serious degradation of local environmental and cultural sites, particularly during dry conditions. An AU$19 million management program was funded in 2009, and, upon completion in 2013, the feral population was estimated to have been reduced to around 300,000.
The US had a [Camel Corps.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Camel_Corps)
> The **United States Camel Corps** was a mid-19th-century experiment by the [United States Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army) in using [camels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel) as [pack animals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_animal) in the [Southwestern United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_United_States). While the camels proved to be hardy and well suited to travel through the region, the Army declined to adopt them for military use. The [Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Civil_War) interfered with the experiment and it was eventually abandoned; the animals were sold at auction.
Speaking of the US Civil War, if youâre ever in Vicksburg:
> **[Douglas the camel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_the_camel)**
>
> Douglas The Camel, or âOld Douglas,â was a domesticated camel used by Company A of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry, part of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Because of Old Douglas, the 43rd Mississippi Infantry came to be known as the Camel Regiment. Douglas was not a veteran of the U.S. War Department program called the Texas Camel Experiment, which aimed to experiment with camels as a possible alternative to horses and mules, which were dying of dehydration in vast numbers. Th...
> Though the men tried to treat Old Douglas like a horse, the camel was known to break free of any [tether](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tether), and was eventually allowed to graze freely. Despite not being tied up, he never wandered far from the men. The Infantryâs horses feared Old Douglas, and he is recorded to have spooked one horse into starting a [stampede](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede), which reportedly injured many, and possibly killed one or two horses.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_the_camel#cite_note-msgw.org-1)
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/8 "2022-03-14T22:12:00Z")
Iâve ridden more camels than I have horses (OK, 2 camels to 1 horse.)
Both camels were trained and each one took our group on a trip into the desert - quite atmospheric.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/9 "2022-03-14T22:35:26Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> Interesting. I always thought of camels as more spitty, less murdery.
>
> [https://nordot.app/875592566235955200?c=592622757532812385](https://nordot.app/875592566235955200?c=592622757532812385)
Camels can kick at surprising angles - not just to the rear - and they can do so with lethal force. Hereâs a US soldier getting a relatively mild love tap while approaching the camel from the side (kick @ 0:42):
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVjEoeAG-88)
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/10 "2022-03-15T02:35:05Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> Hereâs a US soldier getting a relatively mild love tap while approaching the camel from the side
Ladies and gentlemen, the people defending your freedom!
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/11 "2022-03-15T14:35:27Z")
Theyâre interviewing applicants for the vacant position at the petting zoo.
Maybe a couple of nice [cassowaries](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2019/4/why-the-cassowary-is-the-worlds-most-dangerous-bird-568931) for the children to cuddle with.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/12 "2022-03-15T14:40:59Z")
BTW, after putting the camel emoji in the subject line (my keyboard suggested it) I wondered what would happen if you did a Google search of one. [It works](https://www.google.com/search?q=%F0%9F%90%AB&client=firefox-b-1-m&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSoJCcrMj2AhXsmuAKHaopAMUQ_AUICSgE)! And I got to see Woke Luke Skywalker troll an asshole!
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### Author:  [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/13 "2022-03-15T15:13:14Z")
Just for some background, Camel Fighting has a long tradition in Turkey, Afghanistan and elsewhere in that region. They take advantage of male camels heightened aggression during mating season, bringing two males near each other and a female camel and let nature take itâs course⊠[Camel wrestling - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_wrestling)
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/14 "2022-03-16T23:59:36Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Also, Dromedary or Bactrian?
[I donât know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7iXw9zZrLo&t=186s)
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### Author:  [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-run-a-mile-from-a-camel/960974/15 "2022-03-20T00:35:39Z")
Years ago I watched a nature documentary about a trek into a remote desert for some animal research project or other. The camera crew had to use camels as transport due to the terrain. The domestic camels were all female, and some were in season. A wild male camel was attracted and started following the expedition. They filmed him roaring and bucking and kicking in the direction of the people and the female camels, and it was a terrifying sight - he was huge and definitely acting murderous. They had to shoot him because they didnât want their brains kicked out. In the last image of him, he was being carved up for steaks.