Hey everyone! Joey and his sponsor Mariella asked me to do a guest post about giraffe facts, so here it is!
One interesting thing about giraffes is that they can decapitate a lion with their kick. I know that’s gross, but it’s also pretty awesome. You thought lions were king of the jungle? NOPE. IT’S THE GIRAFFE. Although technically giraffes and lions live in the savannah, so they’re actually king of the savannah.
Another fun fact: Giraffes have 18 inch long tongues. 18 INCHES! Their tongues are thick so that they can eat acacia leaves without getting poked by thorns. Their tongues are prehensile, which means they can grab things with them. So it’s basically like they have an extra arm, but really it’s a tongue.
Wanna know something else? Baby giraffes are tough! They survive a 6 foot fall to the ground when they are born. That’s taller than the average human. Unfortunately, they don’t have doctors surrounding mom when they’re born like we humans do, but they don’t need them! They will survive that fall and go on living a successful life.
Something really weird and random, because i know you all have always wanted to know about giraffe mating habits: male giraffes let the female pee on their face to determine if she is fertile. Thank goodness humans don’t do that. That’s why we have things like natural family planning- so we can determine fertility without having to pee on someone’s face!
Something else you might wanna know: Humans and giraffes have the same number of vertebrae (7) in their necks. Although giraffes have such long necks, they have the same number of vertebrae as us.
And one last little tidbit: it’s always been a mystery as to whether or not giraffes can make vocal noises. Well, if you watch this lovely video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7iuOZVJhs0 you can find out that they ARE capable of making noises, but they usually have no need.
That’s it for now! I hope you’re all enjoying Joey’s blog and you enjoy these random giraffe facts. Love, Giraffe Expert Erin
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