Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Cyberflanerie: Camelmania Edition


Gearing up to return to my far West Texas book project-- so I am reading up on camels, which were imported to that desert region by the U.S. Army back in the 19th century. 


George Marsh's 1856 classic The Camel, now a free download on archive.org

Texas Mountain Trail Daily Photos: Trekking with the Camels of Far West Texas

Watch this 6 minute (ish) video about the US Army Camel Experiment


But there is oodles more about camels!

Australia: Home to the World's Largest Camel Herd
BBC News article by Sarah Bell


Dairy Owners Promote Camel Milk Benefits
By Sue Manning July 16, 2010

Camel Milk For Sale

Camel Racing in Qatar (spot the robot jockeys at 4 minutes in)

Camel Jumping (as in jumping over camels)

Camel Charisma: Realizing the True Potential of Camels

Lonesome Bull Ranch has camels for sale

Lazy Dog Ranch offers:
Caring for Your Camel 

Camel Clinic

The NYT sez: Camels Had No Biz in Genesis
And The Guardian weighs in with "The Old Testament's made-up Camels are a Problem for Zionism"
But Madam Mayo sez: Just because a small group of archaeologists has not found and properly identified extremely ancient camel bones does not necessarily mean they are not there-- nor does it mean that camels were not there. Have any of these people ever heard of the concept of "sample size?" As in, you have to have a meaningful sample size before you can draw a meaningful conclusion? Madam Mayo, betraying neither her opinion of the Bible nor of Zionism, shakes her head slowly.

Yours Truly on a camel
(I say they are to a mules as a Cadillac to a pickup truck.)

Giant Ancient Camel Roamed the Arctic
History in the Headlines article by Jennie Cohen... so the camel originates in North America, after all.

Mecca of Camelmania: The Pushkar Camel Fair

Everything you always wanted to know about camel hair.