This year I had a few amazing animal encounters. I was touched by a manta ray, “trunked” by a baby elephant, and slobbered on by a giraffe.
I had never imagined just how soft and gooey a giraffe lick would be. I guess the goo factor helps make the leaves stick when the giraffes eat from trees. But what surprised me most was the sound. As the giraffe swallowed the pellets I was feeding her, she greedily sucked them in. Then all of a sudden, a deep sound like that of a didgeridoo, rumbled near my ear. It was all those pellets falling down the giraffe’s throat.
