Wednesday is known as "Hump Day" and it was literally so at ONU this week when students took turns, two riders at a time, on one of the hump-back beasts.
MORE PHOTOS AT THE BOTTOM.
A handler walked the camel around a roped off area for the bumpy ride. Steps led up to the camel's seats, so mounting the animal was easy. A long line of students awaited their turn in chilly weather, a few snow flakes in the air, probably unlike the camel's native home in the hot deserts of the Middle East.
Some interesting camel facts:
• Live 40 to 50 years
• Adults weigh 2,200 pounds
• Height is 6 feet at shoulder
• Can run 25 mph, sprint at 40 mph
• Good for human transport and as a pack animal
• Also, provide milk, meat, hair for textiles
• They do not store water in their humps as once thought
• They can drink 53 gal. of water in 3 minutes
• There are two kinds:
Dromedary have 1 hump, live in Middle East
Bactrian have 2 humps, live in Central Asia.
(Photos by Monty Siekerman, who would walk a mile for a Camel...ride)
