Did you know that giraffes have bluish purple tongues? This female in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe willingly showed us hers. If it appears to be a mouthful, it is…A giraffe’s tongue is 17-19 inches long (45 and 50 cm). “The better to reach delectable acacia leaves,” it would tell you if it could talk. Giraffes and elephants favor acacia trees for their nutritious leaves.Its tongue is not a giraffe’s most notable adaptation for harvesting leaves, however. That would be its height. Females can be up to 14 feet tall and weigh 1500 pounds. Males can reach a height of 18 feet and weigh up to 3000 pounds. Say you lived in a two story apartment. A giraffe walking by could look in the window at you! This is one of my favorite photos of giraffes. Graceful. Another shot of the same giraffe— standing tall. Its neck and legs are close to six feet long each. Its feet are the size of a dinner plate. The giraffe uses its prehensile lips (moveable) in coordination with its tongue in chowing down on acacia leaves while avoiding the trees sharp thorns. The eyes, ‘btw,’ are the size of golf balls. I’d say this fellow has seen more than a few years. I can identify. You can see where the thorns might be a bit ouchy. Check out their length. The acacia tree has other defenses as well. One is that when the giraffes begin nibbling, the trees increase their tannin production, thus making the leaves less palatable. In one of the ‘miracles’ of nature, other acacias in the area also increase their tannin— even though the giraffes have yet to touch them. The trees have also formed an alliance with biting ants by providing shelter and a sugary nectar. When the giraffe, elephant or other animals go to eat the leaves, the ants swarm and bite them.We were amused when the giraffe stopped browsing on the easily reachable leaves and stretched to reach some higher in the tree. Was this a case of the ‘grass is always greener on the other side of the fence?’ It may be true in this case, since the higher you go, the younger, more tender, and more nutritious the leaves are. The height of the giraffe is an obvious advantage when it comes to reaching them. Elephants with their massive appetites are forced to satisfy their hunger on lower leaves. (They aren’t above shoving the tree over to get at the higher leaves, however.)A couple of headshots are in order here. Note the eyes and lashes. Pretty, huh. The upper lip? Not so much. I thought it looked like a whiskery peach. Pucker up.Check out the ‘horns’ here. Both males and females are born with them. They aren’t attached at birth but lie flat against the head. Might lead to a tough birth, otherwise. They attach later. If one wants to be technical, they are known as ossicones and are composed of ossified cartilage covered with skin and hair.Giraffes a deux. Giraffes are social animals and live in herds although their bonding is mainly between moms and kids. The gestation period is 14 months. The mom gives birth standing up, dropping the baby over five feet to the ground. Could this be the reason the baby is born feet first? Grin. One interesting fact I came across is that when the babies get older, moms leave them together in a ‘nursery’ and go off to eat, leaving one mom in charge of the kids.This trio of giraffes was one of Peggy’s favorite photos. A herd of giraffes is appropriately named a tower!While a giraffe’s neck is long, it isn’t long enough to compensate for its long legs when drinking water. A combination of bending its legs while maintaining balance is the solution. One giraffe has been left on guard duty while two drink here. The vulnerability is obvious, especially when dealing with lions. Crocodiles can also be a challenge.Another problem the giraffe faces while drinking is blood rushing to its head. The expandable jugular veins have one-way valves that allow the veins to expand and prevent the blood from flowing back to the brain. Because giraffes get much of the liquid they need from the 75 pounds of leaves they eat daily, they only drink every few days.A large male heads off into the bush.Giraffes can run over 30 miles per hour enabling them to get away from predators— or Volkswagen beetles. (I once chased a herd across the Serengeti Plains for a short distance, during the 60’s in a ‘bug,’ clocking them at over 20 mph). It’s said that their long legs can also deliver one heck of a karate kick, which I possibly deserved for chasing them, but didn’t experience.I’ll wrap up here with the giraffe heading off across the savanna. Monday is for the birds, or, more specifically, guinea fowls and southern red hornbills. I’ll also tell the story of how a guinea fowl led to a soldier pounding on my door at 4 a.m. with the butt of his rifle trying to arrest me when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa.Did I tell you the the giraffe is Peggy’s favorite African animal?
We have a native acacia here (commonly called huisache) that clearly is related to this one. The growth habit might be a little different, but those thorns and leaves are unmistakable. No matter how skilled those giraffes, it has to be hard to work around those thorns. I’m going to have to make a short detour this morning and check: I’m sure there’s a house the next town over that has a life-sized giraffe in its front yard. Do I remember that Peggy has her own bit of giraffe artwork? or perhaps she was photographed with a sculpture somewhere. Anyway, I knew that she favors them.
Wonderful post highlighting these incredible creatures. I always love the giraffes and my big claim to fame meeting them was at Safari West up close and personal so I knew about their black tongues. I did not know about the mom dropping them from 5 ft but then again, how the heck did I think it would happen? I would have thought they would lay down like the rest of us mothers if need be or have the dad underneath ready to catch them. Well at least they don’t drop them on their heads. I do see why they are Peggy’s favorite and love the picture of her in her awesome t-shirt.❣️💓🙌🏽
Elephants also dropped their babies while standing up Cindy. 🙂 You had me laughing when I thought of a dad giraffe trying to catch a baby. That made me think of the time we had a very pregnant cat (first time mother) when I must have been all of six. It had been my job to introduce the cat to the box where we hoped she would have her kittens. Anyway, I was home alone with the cat when she was walking across the living room floor and suddenly squawked, squatted, and begin to drop her kitten. I jumped up, grabbed her by the nape of the neck, and was rushing to her box when the kitten dropped. Somehow I was able to catch the kitten before it hit the floor and delivered both mom and baby to the box.
Oh interesting.. Like a foot ball catch.
How funny.. this is a new story that I don’t think I’ve heard before. I remember the ones in your bed.. you would make a good quarterback❣️
Or mid-wife? 😳❤️
probs a better analogy😂
LOL
Alie saw them running in 1967. She loved it. She brought the guy she was dating – yours truly – a carved mom and kid giraffe. We still own them.
Seems fun that Alie and I were wandering around in East Africa at the same time. Did she buy her giraffes in Mombassa at the incredible wood carving factory there?
After visiting her sister in Kenya, she went on a photographic safari [even though she didn’t take photos at the time] in Tanzania. She bought the giraffes in a local market. In the process of bargaining, she somehow also ended up with a long wooden [bread?] which we also still have.
The beautiful carvings my first wife and I bought in Mombassa went the way of the first wife. LOL I do have several pieces we bought in Liberia, however. Our safari was sort of photographic, if you count my brownie camera.
Agree with Peggy – they are rather special. Gentle giants.
These photos are just great, Curt. You have done such a good job of showing all their parts: the horns, the tongue, the eyelashes, and also showing how beautiful they are. I just love giraffes too, and have stumbled upon them at Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR with their necks intertwined, or whacking necks against each other, or legs splayed to eat something just beneath them, or babies nursing. It seems like everything they do is cool. I also like comparing the kinds of spots they sport. I can’t believe they choose acacia leaves from between all those thorns. What amazing animals.
We drove by the park at Winston numerous times but never stopped, Crystal. Sounds like we should have. We were so glad we got to see the giraffes we did. Hippos and elephants were much more common.
Photographing the giraffes (and the other animals) was just plain darn fun!
A very good and informative post. I wonder if they sleep lying down and if so, where do they store their long necks? Does their neck lay down or remain upright?
They can sleep for short periods standing up, Gerard. They can also sleep with their legs folded under them and their necks curled back over their bodies. I didn’t see it. however. Thanks.
Wandering through Time and Place 
Yes, it is! Love the photos…..
We have a native acacia here (commonly called huisache) that clearly is related to this one. The growth habit might be a little different, but those thorns and leaves are unmistakable. No matter how skilled those giraffes, it has to be hard to work around those thorns. I’m going to have to make a short detour this morning and check: I’m sure there’s a house the next town over that has a life-sized giraffe in its front yard. Do I remember that Peggy has her own bit of giraffe artwork? or perhaps she was photographed with a sculpture somewhere. Anyway, I knew that she favors them.
Oh, you are right! Didn’t they have a giraffe sculpture on the deck outside their home in Oregon? Or somewhere? It’s a fuzzy memory for me too.
The answer is yes to both of you. Linda, you would have seen the 7-foot giraffe on one of my blogs. Crystal, you visited with it. 🙂
Sadly, Linda, we had to leave the giraffe behind. But it had lived with us for several years.
Wonderful post highlighting these incredible creatures. I always love the giraffes and my big claim to fame meeting them was at Safari West up close and personal so I knew about their black tongues. I did not know about the mom dropping them from 5 ft but then again, how the heck did I think it would happen? I would have thought they would lay down like the rest of us mothers if need be or have the dad underneath ready to catch them. Well at least they don’t drop them on their heads. I do see why they are Peggy’s favorite and love the picture of her in her awesome t-shirt.❣️💓🙌🏽
Elephants also dropped their babies while standing up Cindy. 🙂 You had me laughing when I thought of a dad giraffe trying to catch a baby. That made me think of the time we had a very pregnant cat (first time mother) when I must have been all of six. It had been my job to introduce the cat to the box where we hoped she would have her kittens. Anyway, I was home alone with the cat when she was walking across the living room floor and suddenly squawked, squatted, and begin to drop her kitten. I jumped up, grabbed her by the nape of the neck, and was rushing to her box when the kitten dropped. Somehow I was able to catch the kitten before it hit the floor and delivered both mom and baby to the box.
Oh interesting.. Like a foot ball catch.
How funny.. this is a new story that I don’t think I’ve heard before. I remember the ones in your bed.. you would make a good quarterback❣️
Or mid-wife? 😳❤️
probs a better analogy😂
LOL
Alie saw them running in 1967. She loved it. She brought the guy she was dating – yours truly – a carved mom and kid giraffe. We still own them.
Seems fun that Alie and I were wandering around in East Africa at the same time. Did she buy her giraffes in Mombassa at the incredible wood carving factory there?
After visiting her sister in Kenya, she went on a photographic safari [even though she didn’t take photos at the time] in Tanzania. She bought the giraffes in a local market. In the process of bargaining, she somehow also ended up with a long wooden [bread?] which we also still have.
The beautiful carvings my first wife and I bought in Mombassa went the way of the first wife. LOL I do have several pieces we bought in Liberia, however. Our safari was sort of photographic, if you count my brownie camera.
Agree with Peggy – they are rather special. Gentle giants.
Totally unique and gentle, unless they have to behave otherwise, AC!
They’re forgiven, if the need arises 😉
Yes.
These photos are just great, Curt. You have done such a good job of showing all their parts: the horns, the tongue, the eyelashes, and also showing how beautiful they are. I just love giraffes too, and have stumbled upon them at Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR with their necks intertwined, or whacking necks against each other, or legs splayed to eat something just beneath them, or babies nursing. It seems like everything they do is cool. I also like comparing the kinds of spots they sport. I can’t believe they choose acacia leaves from between all those thorns. What amazing animals.
We drove by the park at Winston numerous times but never stopped, Crystal. Sounds like we should have. We were so glad we got to see the giraffes we did. Hippos and elephants were much more common.
Photographing the giraffes (and the other animals) was just plain darn fun!
I fed one once and it was a great experience!!
That would be G! Like us feeding the elephants.
Exactly. You don’t get those chances very often.
Sort of like once in a lifetime. 🙂
Aren’t they magnificent!
Indeed, Cindy. Like so much of the other wildlife we saw in Africa!
Thumbs up from another Peggy. I saw my first giraffes in the wild in Etosha National Park in Namibia. Have been a fan ever since.
Hard not to love Giraffes, Peggy. Grin.
A very good and informative post. I wonder if they sleep lying down and if so, where do they store their long necks? Does their neck lay down or remain upright?
They can sleep for short periods standing up, Gerard. They can also sleep with their legs folded under them and their necks curled back over their bodies. I didn’t see it. however. Thanks.
Giraffes are amazing animals too, Curt. Love your photos and the pic of Peggy in her cute t-shirt!
They are such amazing animals. Great shots you two.
Alison
We were so excited every time we saw them, Alison. Thanks. –Curt
I think the giraffe might be my favorite African animal, too!
They are magnificent animals, Lexi, no doubt about it.
I always enjoy a good tall tale. Especially with polka dots.
And from another perspective, Dave, should you chooses to notice, their is also a tall tail.
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Thanks for the link.
Thanks for the link. Appreciated.