Mike M. Gonan, age 14, of Shaker Heights, Ohio, for his questions
Does a giraffe have horns'
Mr. Skyscraper is not a native of the New World and we see him only on exhibition in a zoo. The sight of him is breath taking, for after all, he is the tallest animal in the world. He may be 19 feet tall and tip the scales at two tons. lid is such an amazing animal that, when we see him, we tend to forget to look for details such as whether he has horns.
The fact is, both Mr. and Mrs. Giraffe have horns, though maybe not the kind you notice. Every adult giraffe has at least one pair of small. horns growing from his or her brow. These little horns, just a few inches long, are covered with flesh, skin and mottled hair to match the animal's handsome coat.
Certain giraffes of northern Africa have an extra horn, growing from the center of the forehead between the eyes. It too is covered with hair. Once in a while, an old grandfather giraffe sprouts a second pair of horns, ,just behind the first pair. Horns four and five, however, are not much bigger than buttons. Perhaps the giraffe is lucky that all his horns two, three, four or five of them do not grow to be as big as., say, those of a moose.
If you go near his enclosure at the zoo, Mr. Giraffe may bend down his handsome head to look at you. Then you can count his fur covered horns and admire his large furry ears. You may also notice that his long lips are prehensile, able to grasp things. And you will surely notice his big, gentle eyes and the thick lashes which fringe them.
In character, the giraffe is as gentle as his beautiful eyes. He harms no one and no animal.
He does not even raid the farmer's crops in his native Africa. However, he will fight to defend his life, his wives and his children. And in a scrap, the gentle animal is no sissy.
His only natural a nervy, aside from man the hunter, is the lion, And no lion is silly enough to attack the 'bag fellow alone in the open. The lion may wait until the giraffe is drinking, when he has to spread his front legs to reach the water with his mouth. Or the lion may gang up on a big giraffe with the help of a few lion friends„
Mr. Giraffe usually has several wives and a number of growing children. He often has to fight other bull giraffes to keep his harem. Two male bulls open the contest head on, though the horns are no use as weapons. A blow from the animal's head,, backed up by several hundred pounds of mighty muscle, is often enough to knock the enemy senseless or even dislocate his neck.
After a few bouts of this kind, the bulls continue the fight with kicks' using both front and back legs. A bull giraffe can kick a sizeable lion into mincemeat, but the male bills rarely kill each other. The contest ends when one proves himself strong enough to protect his pretty wives and children.