Our granddaughter, Margaux, loves the giraffe so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures I've taken of this wonderful animal. At 16 to 20 feet in height, the giraffe is the tallest living mammal on the planet.  It loves to eat the leaves of the Acacia tree. 

Even in the dry season, the trees keep some leaves at the very top of their branches. Having a long neck, the giraffe can easily reach the leaves. Originally the giraffe was believed to be part camel and part leopard. In Afrikaans the giraffe is called "kameelperd" because of this old belief. Many native languages translate the name of a giraffe as "fast walker". It can gallop up to 37 miles per hour.

Its long neck has only 7 vertebrae, just like us humans but they are much longer and have a ball and socket configuration.

Besides getting around the thorns on the Acacia tree to get to the leaves, the giraffe's twenty inch tongue can also help to pick its nose. Margaux, I bet you can't do that.