Houston Zoo 2017, Round Two - Suckling Giraffe / The Giraffe House

To see this and to look at a mature adult standing tall at eighteen feet, it's incredible to know that these guys have the same number of neck vertebrae (seven) that most other mammals do, from the shrew to us humans.

And they are so interesting.  From their patterns, to the fact that they don't make sounds, to their goofy looking heads, to their seemingly docile nature...these are hugely interesting creatures.  And I can't walk by the giraffe exhibit without remembering the time, when I was five or six years old, that my two older brothers and I sneaked into the tall green wooden structure that houses them.  We closed the door behind us and there we were, all by ourselves and these giant animals, the only thing between us and them being a barrier with big thick bars.  I got plenty nervous, and they obviously did too, as we made a quick exit upon realizing that getting too close was a bit scary.