Why can camels eat cactus? Are they not afraid of pricking their mouths? Just look at its mouth and you'll understand
I believe that anyone who has seen the animal world with camels has seen the unique skill of camels - swallowing cactus raw with their mouths. Many people feel sorry for camels, and feel that camels are so pitiful. They have nothing to eat in the desert and are forced to eat prickly cactus, which must hurt their mouths! In fact, everyone thinks too much.
Like cattle and sheep, camels are ruminant mammals that mainly live in the surrounding deserts and Gobi. The most representative plants in these areas are Haloxylon trees, ghosts, and cacti. Each of these plants grows almost like a virtue, that is, there are no leaves, basically either very thin stick-shaped leaves, or cactus-like thorns. There are many benefits to growing like this, not only to reduce water evaporation in these arid areas, but also to deter surrounding animals and keep them away from themselves.
However, camels don't eat these plants. They like to eat these thorny plants most, which have something to do with the camel's body. The oral structure of camels is basically the most special among animals. Camels have extremely thin lips, wide open mouths, dense short hairs on their lips, and extremely hard upper jaws, so they are very resistant to piercing. The cheeks on both sides are all keratinized cone-shaped structures, which are also particularly resistant to piercing. The tongue is also different from other animals, it is also full of cuticles, and it is also resistant to pricking.
In addition, the developed salivary glands of camels secrete a large amount of viscous saliva, which can also be very useful in preventing being stabbed. This unique oral structure among animals makes it difficult for him to be injured by thorny plants when he eats. So you think that camels are suffering from eating cactus, but you don’t know that camels are enjoying the food.
The camels in China are mainly Bactrian camels. They are especially good at eating when there is plenty of food. They can eat more than 20 catties of grass a day. Then they convert the energy into fat, which they consume when they have nothing to eat. And these fats can also be converted into water. After 1 kg of fat is oxidized in the camel body, it can form 1 kg of water, so don’t be surprised if you see a camel not eating or drinking for a month. Reserved, carrying a small warehouse.