… if you live in Australia, that is. Perhaps as a punishment for making me think about giant snakes, Australia is suffering yet another attempted takeover by non-native species, which periodically come in and disrupt the continent's carefully balanced ecosystem of massively deadly freaks of nature. This time, it’s feral camels. And they eat air conditioners and plumbing. It’s probably a fair bet that the Australian Department of Tourism is wetting its pants right about now.
Camels have actually been in the country since the late 19th century (the British imported them, just like they did with human Australians), but now there are more than a million. And these thrifty desert beasts will take water anywhere they can find it, including the inside of air conditioners and plumbing systems. They do more than $10 million AUD of damage every year. (On the plus side, they reduce people’s energy usage from climate control! Maybe we should introduce an invasive species that eats cars.)
Oh, P.S., the camels are monstrously strong, so if you see one snarfing your AC you should report it to Camelscan instead of trying to bring it down singlehanded, Crocodile Dundee.
