Camels, which we are familiar with with their large humps and very tall stature, are very durable animals, especially in the harsh desert conditions. When camels face a possible illness, the most common treatment method is to make them swallow snakes.
Does making camels swallow a poisonous snake really cure them, as is thought, and how does this affect the camels?
Camels can eat snakes, but this is not uncommon and they usually do not do so voluntarily.
A camel may have to eat things it does not normally eat in order to survive – as in the case of snakes – but there is no identifiable reason why camels specifically eat snakes.
Camels, known as Hyam; They often contract a disease that causes a variety of symptoms such as lethargy, swelling, fever and anemia. Since no cure has yet been found for this disease that affects camels, some people believe that the only solution to this disease is to feed the camel a poisonous snake.
Camels that contract Hyam actually suffer from a parasitic infection called Trypanosomiasis.
This infection causes camels; It causes the camel to face many reproductive problems such as miscarriage, stillbirth and testicular degeneration, and if appropriate medical interventions are not provided, the camel is very likely to die.
Another claim is that a camel that eats a poisonous snake will shed tears as soon as it swallows it. In fact, in some cultures, these tears are believed to have healing properties and are used as a treatment for snake bites.
However, there is no evidence to support this belief, and it is a complete misconception that camels cry after swallowing a snake. It is also an unfounded claim that camel tears have healing properties.
At least we can clearly state that the crying camels you see in various documentaries do not shed tears for this reason.
So, do these poisonous snakes poison camels, let alone cure them?
If camels are bitten by a snake, they will of course be negatively affected, but this does not pose a life-threatening risk for them. The reason for this is that snake venom consists of fragile protein structures.
Since the digestive system of camels is quite strong, snake venom entering their bodies is easily eliminated with the effect of their regular digestive function.
Again, considering the habits of camels to eat whatever they find to survive in the geography they live in, it is possible to say that they are actually exposed to many risks from most of the foods and creatures they consume, and snake venom is quite mild compared to all these.
In summary, we can say that there is no special reason for camels to eat snakes. Again, in some societies, camels are made to swallow snakes for different reasons, which stems from superstitions, and so far, no positive side of this behavior has been proven.
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