Why Do Camels Eat Snakes? | Why Do Camels Owners Feed Live Snakes To Camels

When we take the name of camel, the phrase "Ship of the Desert" usually struck to our mind, that is, the one who can walk across the hot sandy plains even on a hot afternoon. Although the camel is a very calm animal, but sometimes it becomes so violent that it can even attack humans. There are more than 20 million camels in this whole world and nature has made the camel's feet in such a way that it can run at a speed of 40 to 50 km per hour even on the sandy plains of the desert. That is, it works as a motorcycle on the sandy desert. Furthermore, a very special feature of this animal is that it can survive up to 15 days without water. And when it gets water after such a long period, it drinks up to 100 liters of water in one go. 

Everyone knows that the camel is a herbivorous animal but in many countries, camel is fed poisonous snakes, such as King Cobra. There is a big reason behind this, which you will be surprised to hear. In fact, according to a report, a dangerous disease occurs in the camel, due to which it stops eating and its whole body becomes stiff. According to the experts, the name of this disease is Hyam and it is said that this disease is so dangerous that it can even cause the death of camels. So in such a situation, it is believed that a live snake is put in the mouth of the camel, and then pour water into the animal’s mouth so that the snake could go inside its stomach. By doing this, the venom of the snake spreads in the Camel's body. 

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But after swallowing the snake, the camel starts crying and during this process, the water starts flowing out from its eyes. According to experts, this water should be preserved, as it is believed to be a powerful antivenom. It is even said that in ancient times, there was a huge demand of keeping these tears preserved in small bags because they acted as relief in case of snake or scorpion bites.

After a few days as the effect of the poison subsides, the camel gets better and when the effect of the poison gets completely over, the camel starts eating again. However, there is no exact evidence available on how scientifically correct this is. Also, there is no exact proof of whether it is actually used to treat this disease.