I had a lovely morning at the Kragga Kama Game Park near Port Elizabeth in South Africa and spent some time with a group of Giraffes. They must be one of the strangest animals on the planet.
This one had a fly that was irritating it around the eyes and what is an animal supposed to do when the face is some 16 feet away from your feet? It takes a lot of effort to reach the face with the feet and it probably cannot be done. The giraffe’s tail can be useful for a job like this (that is a reason why it is there) but unfortunately it is not 12 feet long and also cannot reach the face. In any case if you move your head to within reach of the tail the fly will probably take off and you won’t have the satisfaction of killing it.
Well if your tongue is up to 18 inches long you whack the fly with that!
(I know very little about giraffes, Google did not help and this is a pure guesswork!)
