long-necks
Giraffes
Did anyone see the special on PBS last Sunday night about giraffes? I admit I was fascinated.
Giraffes are the tallest animal in the world reaching heights of 18'. They showed a 24 hour old baby that was 6' tall and weighed 138 pounds. Wow. An adult's legs alone are 6' high and a grown man could stand tall under the chest of an adult giraffe.
How do they not pass out from blood rushing from their head when they lift their head from ground level getting a drink to 18' in the air? Well, God gave them a 2' long heart and 1" thick skin to keep their blood pressure even. The blood pressure of a giraffe is twice that of a man and the giraffe's skin has been likened to the pressure suits worn by fighter pilots to keep them from passing out during aerial maneuvers.
The diet of giraffes consist mainly of acacia tree leaves. The eating of these is no mean feat considering the tree has thorns the length of a man's thumb. The approximately 18" firm yet gentle liver-colored tongue and prehensile upper lip of the giraffe enable it to gently and carefully pull off the edible leaves while avoiding the thorns. Cool huh.
The giraffe also has a very unusual gait. Because of it's very long legs, the giraffe moves the legs on the right together, then the legs on the left - this keeps their legs from getting tangled up. When they run, reachings speeds up to 35 mph, they run like a rabbit with their hind legs splaying apart to either side of their front legs and in front of them - this too prevents leg tangles. Their unusual walking gait causes them to sway gracefully along and when they run, their long neck acts like the mast of a ship.
In sparring for dominance, the giraffes swing their necks and heads at each other but they never swing their necks and heads at other animals or people. The hooves of the giraffe a very sharp. When a giraffe is born a gelatinous mass covers their hooves to keep them from hurting mom during birth but wears off as they start walking. When defending themselves or their young from predators like lions, the giraffe kicks, and if the kick connects, it can decapitate a lion. (Giraffes will spend hours determinedly protecting their young if they're threatened.)
Giraffes are also herding animals and after they give birth, the young are put into "daycare". What this boils down to is the parents leave their young with babysitter giraffes and come back often enough to nurse their own babies. The mother giraffes take turns being the babysitters.
Beautiful eyes and long eyelashes. These creatures are blessed with beautiful eyes and very long eyelashes.
Giraffes are gentle giants.
They can also talk. Scientists discovered that when giraffes do what the scientists call "neck-stretching", they are blowing out sharp bursts of air. These bursts are at such a low frequency that we don't hear it, but the sound travels far and the giraffes respond to it.
There are 9 different varieties of giraffes that have varying patterns on their hide.
Before much was known about giraffes, it was believed that they were part leopard and part camel. The word giraffe comes from the arabic word "many parts" describing their appearance of a mixed batch of parts.
Do you realize giraffes are kinda goofy looking? But I love them anyway.
I want to metaphorically be like a giraffe. I want to have a big heart full of love and compassion, thick skin so I don't easily take offense, with a firm yet gentle tongue to speak the truth in love. I want to be able to find sustanence even among thorns. I don't mind looking a little goofy if I'm also graceful and gentle. I want to be steadfast in protecting the young and innocent, kind enough to help care for others kids. I want to be like a giraffe - don't you?
posted by Colleen @ 4:40 PM
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