You asked for it...You got it!!

First, let me say how excited I am this morning as "they're coming to take them away"...yup, there will soon be more termites in termite Heaven (located somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, where no spaceships made of wood ever land...hmmm...or maybe they are ALL wood since it is termite Heaven?).

Bet you thought (or is that hoped) we were all through with giraffes, didn't you?? Well this IS Friendly Friday Favorites, so they're baaacck. Almost forgot that I had these fascinating 'animals on hands and arms'...so here's a giraffe, pretty good, huh?













So, yes, I did find the CD that Brande burned for me four years ago when we went to the zoo, so these favorites will be pictures from the zoo. First, you get to see part of the stairs and how high we had to climb up to get to the giraffes. Everything looks hunky dory so far, the redhead thinks that this will be a 'normal' outing and visit to see the giraffes (now you must imagine that scary music they always play in the movies but the characters have no clue what is about to happen....). (Pssst...Eileen and Bernie, please take note that I am wearing very pink flip flops, that, now that I look, probably qualify as a stair step all by themselves...good thing I didn't fall off my shoes!)

This next, in a series of favorite photos, shows the way one SHOULD feed the giraffes, allowing the pellets to FALL onto the huge slobbery tongue...actually, you are supposed to slightly curl your lip even at this part (fortunately for you, Brande, my sweet DIL, was snapping away as best she could, but missed the drops of slobber and drool in all the photos.) More scary, impending doom music here....

Hold on to your seat, close your eyes and then squint to see, ...here is the really scary part!! Although you do miss the best part where this salivating, mucousy tongue actually wraps around Michael's wrist, but you can see that he has his hand ON the giraffe's tongue. You also miss the happy and goofy grin on Michael's face as his hand and arm get progressively more gacked with slobber. If he could have, Michael was trying to reach out far enough to check out this giraffe's tonsils!!

The Grand Finale, where Michael, with that little sly grin on his face, turns to me with a dripping and slimy hand and wants more pellets and asks me "what's wrong, honey, I figured you would love slobber and slime?? Let me give you a big hug." Can you see the 'delight' on my face and how pleased I am? Just love this picture...this explains the saying that 'a picture is worth a thousand words".

EVEN MORE information on giraffes (all reading this will now get an honorary degree in giraffetology):

Giraffe

The Giraffe is the tallest living animal and can reach vegetation that other herbivores can not. Giraffes eat foliage (broad leafed deciduous and evergreen), grass, shrubs and fruit, and don’t require a lot of water.

Michael would never make it as a giraffe since he thinks anything green or salads are strictly for using as compost, plus he drinks gallons of water a day.

Their favorite food is the acacia tree. A giraffe browses most of the day, eating anywhere from 15 to 65 pounds.

Now, Michael could handle the eating 15-65 pounds a day, if it's in hamburger form.

At night they lie down to rest and ruminate.

They also read good books and swap stories.
There are 9 subspecies of giraffe. Giraffes live in Africa in arid and dry-savanna areas where trees occur.

They also live in zoos where they pretend it's Africa.

They live in loose herds with no specific leaders. Their height makes it easy for them to spot predators from a distance, so if one signals danger, they all run.

Much like children hearing the ice cream man coming down the road.
Adult males weigh 2420 to 4250 pounds, females 1540 to 2600 pounds. Males are 9 to 11 feet at the shoulder and 18 to 19 feet at the top of their horns. Females are about 2 feet shorter.

Even here the females are more weight conscious whereas the males are more unconscious.
When giraffes walk they move both right legs forward, then both left. When running, however, the back legs come forward on the outside of the front legs.

This sounds pretty tricky...don't try this at home alone.

Baby giraffes are born while their mother is standing, so fall to the ground at birth. In about 20 minutes the calf can stand and are about 6 feet tall. Calves can grow as much as an inch a day and double their height in a year. 50 to 75% of calves are killed by lions and spotted hyenas during the first few months of life.

Just makes me say, thank Heavens I'm NOT a giraffe momma!

Fun Giraffe Facts
- Giraffes were once thought to be a cross between a camel and a leopard, which resulted in their scientific name of Giraffa camelopardalis.

It would be FAR more interesting to know WHO thought that one up!!
- To establish dominance males swing their heads at one another in tests of strength. This is called “necking.”

Definitely sounds like a guy thing here...can't you picture your man doing this?
- As they age, giraffes’ fur darkens. - A giraffe only has 7 vertebrae in a neck that can be 5 feet long.

Think we'd look better if our 'fur' darkened instead of going white.
- The reticulated giraffe (north Kenya) has a latticework of thin lines that separates the dark patches.

Whereas we get those thin lines but with white patches.
- Besides being prehensile, a giraffe tongue can be 18 inches long!

This is definitely the one Michael was feeding!
References
African Wildlife Foundation
Animal Diversity Web
Encarta

I had a little bit of a challenge, but finally found some more zoo jokes:

Little Jordan wanted to go to the zoo and pestered his parents, Al and Elaine, for days. Finally Elaine talked Jordan's reluctant father into taking him. And so Jordan and Al got into the car and left. "So how was it?" Elaine asked when they returned home. "Great," Little Jordan replied. "Did you and your father have a good time?" asked Elaine. "Yeah, but Daddy especially liked it," exclaimed Jordan, excitedly, "especially when one of the horsies came racing home at 30 to 1!"

^^^^^^^

Why did Michael the Irishman buy two tickets to the zoo?

One to get in and one to get out...

^^^^^^^

Caller: Finally! I got through! I've been trying to call the zoo for hours!

Zookeeper: Yes, all our lions were busy!

^^^^^^^^

A guy finds a sheep wandering in his neighborhood and takes it to the police station. The desk sergeant says, "Why don't you just take it to the zoo?" The next day, the sergeant spots the same guy walking down the street—with the sheep. "I thought I told you to take that sheep to the zoo," the sergeant says. "I know what you told me," the guy responds. "Yesterday I took him to the zoo. Today I'm taking him to the movies."

~~~Thank You, Lord, for the blessings of sharing favorite things with special people.