Do Camels Really Spit?

A photo of me after tending to a wound on an upset camel

Do Camels Really Spit?

We are frequently asked if our camels spit. The answer is “yes….and well….no.”

When a human spits, it’s an act of anger or disgust in which a portion of collected saliva is jettisoned at a target. How’s that for a complex description of something simple? When a camel spits, they have actually gotten so upset that they are throwing up. Camels are a ruminate which means they have more than one stomach and they chew a cud. When they eat, their food goes into the first stomach where it gets churned around some. At some point a very complex series of contractions occur and the contents of the first stomach (called the rumen) is shot all the way back up that long neck and into their mouth where they chew it again.

When they get really upset, this cud or rumen gets pushed up into their mouths. Our Bactrians are a little more sensitive. If they sense that something they don’t like is going to happen they have a tendency to preload their cud and then direct it your way. Our Dromedaries tend to just sort of puke it out on the ground. Pretty pathetic actually.

So what makes camels this upset? I can assure you its not having new people approach. Things like giving shots, maybe getting tangled up in a lead rope or having something large suddenly lifted above their heads. What does this look like? You know what the bottom of a lawnmower blade looks like right? Just imagine rinsing that off and putting some in a little water cannon.

The take away is that camels have a huge body but they also have a huge sensitive hearts. When treated gently and given time to experience new things there is no reason to fear being spit on.