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Military Animals

By Rylee

Animals have been fighting in wars for a long time. And it’s not just dogs like you probably think it is. Some animals include monkeys, mules, and even camels and bears. But you just have to remember not all of these animals fight for the military now.

The first animal, that was in the Chinese military was a monkey. They used these monkeys for years. They used them because some birds were causing trouble at a Chinese air base. The base was right in a path for migrating birds and when birds fly near airplanes, they can get sucked in to a plane’s engines and then cause a crash. So, not only were the birds lives in danger but so were the pilots. So, the Chinese started training Macaque monkeys to keep the birds away. This worked after trying three different ways to get them away. But, this solved the problem because the monkeys climbed in the trees and the left their sent and that kept the birds from not coming back.

The second military animal, is the mule. You probably wouldn’t think that mules would be in the military, would you? But they were actually very helpful. They were used in the American Civil War. They hauled food, supplies, ammunition into battle zones, and they also sometimes carried wounded soldiers on their backs. They were later also called into duty in World War l to do the same thing. The United States and its allies used as many as 300,000. So, they were really helpful, actually.

The other animal in the military, is the camel. In the mid- 1800's, camels were part of an experiment. The country was trying to expand into the westward. But the settlers needed help of animals that could survive long expeditions in the dessert. So, on May 14, 1856 66 camels would be sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from North America all the way to Texas.For the next few years, these 66 camels would carry supplies for the army. Then the Civil War broke out in the United States in 1861, and Confederate troops from the South gained the power of the camels and used them to haul food and other supplies. Later on after the war, most of the camels got sold to carnivals or zoos.

There are so many more animals that are or has been used in wars. We should really thank an animal and a veteran for all they do to protect our country. Thank a veteran or military animal today you might just feel better.

Source: Military Animals by Laurie Calkhoven