Okay. I'll be honest. I don't love giraffes as much as I love cheetahs. But they are still pretty cool. Here are some weird things you never wanted to know about giraffes:
- Generally speaking, for every foot a giraffe is tall, its tongue will be one inch long. So an eighteen-foot-tall giraffe will have an eighteen-inch-long tongue.
- Giraffes have black/ purple tongues. It's freaky. The theory is that it serves as sun protection, since they spend so much of their day eating!
- Giraffe spit is extra sticky. It helps coat the thorns of their favorite food, the thorny acacia, which is a very cool looking green-barked tree, that's covered in 2-3" long thorns.
- Giraffes have seven neck bones, just like humans. But theirs are all ten inches long, hence the six-foot-neck!
- When a giraffe baby is born, Mama Giraffe doesn't lay down. She gives birth-- standing up! Baby has a six-foot fall ahead of him, which shocks him into taking a breath.
Who here likes giraffes? *raises hand*
I love cheetahs. Here's why:
- They totally purr. And it is ADORABLE. And LOUD. And ADORABLE.
- They are the smallest of the big cats, and as such are actually rather skittish. They lack the confidence that lions and tigers have and are therefore relatively trainable. Many facilities that keep cheetahs allow for direct contact, which they will not do with other big cats. This means I get to see cheetahs walking around on leashes all the time. How freaking cool is that?
- They can run up to 70 MPH! That's as fast as a car on the freeway. I know that seems obvious, but it still blows my mind to think about driving down the freeway and having a CAT keep up with me. Every time I bump it up to 75, I think, "Ha! Got away from THAT cheetah!" (Of course, they can only keep this speed up for about a minute. Sprinter, not marathoner. Still impressive. Can YOU run 70 MPH? I didn't think so).
- At full speed, one stride can be up to 22 FEET long!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why cheetahs are awesome. What more do you need?
So... yeah.Rather than trying to explain, I will just say... hi!I think most of you follow me on the Archives anyway. So it's not like I've disappeared. I just haven't been HERE. Sorry about that.The good news? I've got a new, exciting job, and a new, exciting MS that I'm excited to talk about. And there's no shortage of stuff to share from those! So yay for things to blog about!The well that had runneth dry now runneth over.And I will start runneth-ing over very soon!
