Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/284

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THE BABYHOOD OF WILD BEASTS

he rose and wabbled around, using his hooves gingerly.

His neck was not very long. The neck does not lengthen to any great extent until the animal enters his second year. This little fellow was four feet high at birth. His pretty body was pale yellow, nicely flecked with dark brown spots.

The eyes were lustrous and inquiring, and the ears good sized for the little head. Altogether he was one of the most interesting creatures it had been my good fortune to meet, and very lively for one so young. He walked when he was two hours old. I became a daily visitor at the menagerie. Julia and her baby got to know me and trust me.

She would bend her head, poised daintily on her long neck, and look at me curiously. She couldn't express herself very clearly, for the giraffe has no voice. They are quite dumb, and incapable of making the slightest sound. Serious accidents have happened on account of this inability to utter sound. Five magnificent animals were burned in their stalls, when the slightest noise would have brought aid.