Camel
attacks are becoming a serious problem nowadays. Every year,
approximately 23.7 people are being attacked by camels, and some of
them might not even be aware of that.
That's
what this short guide was written for - to assist all those people who
might be attacked by camels, or who think they might have been attacked
by a camel and are not sure.
Don't become another statistic - read the Camel Attack Guide today!
How to know if you have encountered a camel
Camels
mostly live around the area of the Middle east and North Africa. If you
are not in these parts, most chances are the animal you have
encountered is not a camel. Either way, you want to ask yourself the
following questions:
Is it a largish animal with ridiculously long legs, a hump on its back and a light-brown colour?
Camels are about 2m high, and are amazingly well-adapted to life
in the desert. If the answer to any of the details in the question
above is "no", the animal standing in front of you is not a camel, but
something else. A dog, perhaps?
Does the animal have antlers?
If the answer to this question is "yes", you are probably standing in front of a moose, which is totally different from a camel.
Once you have established the identity of the animal, you can move to the next step.
What next?
The next questions you should ask yourself are:
Is the camel looking at you?1
Is it a tourist camel?
If the camel has a large fancy-looking saddle on its hump, reins
decorated with all sorts of jingling bells and a person standing near
its head and charging money for taking a picture of you on the camel's
back, it is not likely to attack you.
Is the camel moving? Is it standing up at all?
This is a very important point. Camels can move pretty fast, but
once they have laid themselves down they don't like getting up again,
so they do not pose a threat. Camels might also be tied, in which case
they move much slower.
Does the camel appear mad?
Another important point. Camels usually have sort of a bored contemptuous expression. If the camel looks mad2, it probably is. In that case it is best to back away carefully, as fast as you can.
Oh my god, a camel is charging towards me, what do I do?
Run.
Run as fast as you can3
towards the closest shelter - a car, a bus, anything that might be
camel-proof, and preferably something that can be driven far away from
there.
Try deceiving the camel by throwing things at it. If you happen to be wearing a straw hat, now would be a good time to let it go once and for all. The same thing goes for any food you might be carrying on you. Do not throw your camera, you will need it!
Once you are safely inside the bus (or whatever shelter you have), and before you take off, pull out your camera.
Take a picture of the raging camel - better take more than one picture, just to be on the safe side.
After
all, if you don't have a picture of an insane drooling camel trying to
break through the bus window, who is ever going to believe your story?
1 Assuming this really is a camel, of course. If it isn't, disregard the following information, and in fact this whole entry.
2 For instance, if it is staring right at you and drooling.
3 Remember, camels move pretty fast!
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