What Work Do These Animals Do? Quiz

Answer: camel

The camel works well in the dry land of the Middle East where it's been a beast of burden for centuries, carrying either people or things. Nowadays there are mostly only sporting uses, like camels in races, some ridden by high-tech remote-controlled robot jockeys.

Answer: sheep

Cotton plants produce cotton, flax plants produce linen, silkworms or caterpillars produce silk, but only sheep can produce wool, with its unique property of keeping you warm even when wet. Both sheep and humans in the rain like that attribute. Some other fibers are produced by animals, too: angora, cashmere, or mohair, sheared and spun from diverse animals like rabbits, llamas, and goats, even dogs.

There are some concerns about cruelty during harvesting of the exotic furs.

Answer: pigeon

Before telephones, telegraphs and radios, homing pigeons performed a real service, carrying messages as they flew back to wherever they had been brought from, across a battlefield, or city-to-city. Pigeon races are still fun as a sport.

Answer: llama

Llamas were the traditional pack animal of South America. They were domesticated several thousand years ago, and may be the oldest domesticated animal in the world. There are some other closely related species, collectively called lamoids.

Answer: bee

Sugar or a liquid sweetener can be made from sugar cane, sugar beets, maple sap, not to mention sorghum, but bees stay competitive with the unique product of honey. At the same time, they fertilize orchards, fields of clover and other agricultural products.

They've been in danger from an unknown problem causing colony collapse: mites, pesticides, genetic problems? It's a mystery, and some say the honey bee will naturally overcome it, while others say an active solution must be sought.

Answer: ox

Oxen used to be the tractors of farms, slow but strong. They respond to training at least as well as horses, using no bit, just following vocal commands or the tap of a whip. They were said to work better in the cold, while mules worked better in heat, so typical southern US farms used mules and northern ones oxen, but there were plenty of exceptions.

They're rarely used in real farming anymore, but one can see them at living history farms or people who like training unusual animals will often display them at county fairs.

Answer: falcon

Falcons are part of a cliche of noblemen riding out to go on a hunt back in the days of knights and ladies. There's both truth and some exaggeration in that image, but one can't say falconry is a widespread sport even today, when anyone can pursue it. Hawks, eagles and some other birds can be trained as well. Rabbits and small game birds are generally within the range of falcons' size and strength.

Answer: elephant

Elephants have something no other beast of burden has, that strong and useful trunk. Though elephants have traditionally been trained to perform practical labor or for entertainment, there's strong pressure now to investigate training methods and expose inhumane ones. Circuses are starting to omit elephants entirely.

Answer: horse

Of all the animals who can carry humans, horses seem to be the most graceful in motion. Even though they're rarely used for farm work or transportation anymore, they have loyal owners who enjoy them for fun and competition. Bloodlines have become specialized from centuries of careful breeding.

There are many riding breeds, not to mention draft horses for pulling heavy loads. Gaited horses or pacers even have natural gaits that others lack. Llamas and elephants have never been bred to have that kind of specialization.

Answer: mule

A mule is produced by a mare and a jackass, but control the jokes--those long ears hear everything and are very sensitive. Mules almost never can reproduce themselves, but they're strong for their size, well worth producing. Like most beasts of burden, they're rarely used for actual work anymore, but are displayed by proud owners at gatherings, and engage in competitions.