A mother camel and her young son were relaxing together one sunny afternoon when the baby camel looked down at his body and started to feel a bit curious.
“Mom, can I ask you something?” the little camel asked. “Why do we have these massive, flat, three-toed feet?”
The mother smiled proudly and replied, “Well, my sweet child, those are built for survival. When we trek across the vast, burning desert, our wide toes spread out to help us stay right on top of the soft, shifting sand so we don’t sink.”
The baby camel nodded, taking it all in. A couple of minutes later, he looked at his reflection and asked, “Mom, then why do we have these incredibly long, thick eyelashes?”
“Those are a beautiful shield, son,” the mother explained patiently. “They are specifically designed to keep the harsh, blowing sand out of our eyes during violent windstorms on our long trips through the desert.”
“Okay, I get it,” the young camel muttered. He looked over his shoulder and asked, “But Mom, why on earth have we got these great big, heavy humps on our backs?”
The mother beamed with pride. “Ah, the humps are our greatest asset! They allow us to store valuable water and fat for our legendary journeys across the barren wilderness. Because of them, we can go without a single drink for long periods of time!”
The baby camel paused for a long moment, carefully processing all of this amazing information.
“Alright, let me make sure I’ve got this entirely straight,” the little camel said. “We have massive feet to stop us from sinking in the dunes, long eyelashes to protect our eyes from sandstorms, and huge humps to store water for brutal desert treks.”
“Yes, exactly, dear!” the mother said happily, thrilled by how smart her son was.
The baby camel sighed, looked around at the concrete floor, the artificial rocks, and the heavy iron bars surrounding them, and asked:
“So… why the hell are we in the San Diego Zoo?”
