My Best Wildlife Observation

Originally Published Dec. 2012     

Did Lyle say “wildlife” for our topic today?  As in tigers, lions, tarantella spiders, and wild boars?  Or did he mean what I consider “second-tier wildlife” such as deer, skunks, garter snakes, and pitbulls?  “Third-tier wildlife” would, of course, be – in my estimation – mosquitos, wasps, wood ticks, and even though they are really cute – caterpillars.

Now, if “wildlife” to Lyle meant my first or second-tier animals, I’m kind of out of luck.  I’ve led a fairly sheltered life – meaning, I would have had to be “in the wild” in order to observe or encounter “the wild.”  Oh, I’ve seen wild animals at the zoo where they are placed in their “natural” habitat.   I’ve seen the dead deer that my dad and brother brought home every fall.  I don’t know if ducks count as wildlife; but, I’ve certainly seen my share of dead ducks (thanks again to my dad and brother). 

You see, I’m not a camper.   My idea of “camping” is using a microwave at a Holiday Inn.  Oh, I did camp out when I was a teenager with my girlfriends.  And the only wildlife we encountered were all the teenaged boys who came to invade and scare us girls in the St. Croix State Park.  And since, Lyle said we weren’t supposed to write about the human kind of wildlife, I will leave my camping adventure to another time.

Well, this is going to be a pretty short (as well as boring) story if I can’t come up with anything more interesting than almost hitting the deer that crossed my path on Robinson Drive a couple of weeks ago or while on vacation up north seeing the dead garter snake that my then-ten year old brother, Steve, placed in my mother’s side of the bed.  So, I better get to thinking.

Well, I think I’ve come up with something no one else will be able to duplicate.  My wildlife observation occurred while Norm and I were on vacation in San Diego in March of 2011.  One of our sons, David, had joined us for a few days and we decided to visit the famous San Diego Zoo. 

After eating a very expensive lunch ($5.00 just for a plastic glass of Diet Pepsi), we decided to first get an over-all look at the zoo by going on a guided bus tour.  Just as the tour was starting, a zoo person told the driver that the long-anticipated labor of a pregnant giraffe was starting.  Evidently, the giraffe was two weeks’ overdue.  The bus driver said that the giraffe would probably still be in labor by the time we got back and encouraged us to remain with the tour.  So, we did.  We were given a good overview and saw some animals we had never seen before at other zoos (and, of course, I can’t remember any of their names). 

When we returned, we discovered that the giraffe compound was just across the street from the bus drop-off area.  And a crowd was already there watching the giraffe!  So, we walked across the street and joined the crowd.

The giraffe was slowly walking around and by the time we arrived, had already delivered two legs!  The crowd was very respectful and quiet and I got a couple of good pictures.  Then, I handed the camera to David, who at 6’3” is taller than most, so he could get above the crowd and take some better pictures. 

The mother giraffe made no sound whatsoever….. even when she did give birth.  She just continued to walk – back and forth – and then in a large circle – then, back and forth again.  She even ventured into a building on the compound and we were afraid that she would stay there.  But, after a couple of minutes, she walked back into full view.  

The mother would every now and then bend her long legs – like she was going to kneel and maybe even lie down – but, she would soon straighten back up.  Other giraffes would come up to her and sort of “check her out” and then would walk away.  I suppose, this was their way of giving her encouragement and support.  I like to think that one of them was the father of the soon-to-be-born little giraffe.   All of this was done, as I said, with the crowd being very quiet.

We had to wait for only ½ hour more and then all of a sudden, she bent down a little and out flew her baby onto the ground.  Everyone clapped (but quietly and quickly) and then we all just waited for the baby to move – which it did, after about 30 seconds.  We then waited to see if it would stand up.  We must have waited at least another ½ hour and while it tried several times, it didn’t get up completely while we were there.  Since the zookeepers were all standing around and not in a hurry to “help” at all, we figured everything was fine and it would eventually stand/or nurse from the mother.   The crowd finally dispersed. 

What an opportunity to see a live birth of a giraffe!  -- which, coincidentally, just happens to be in my first-tier definition of wild life!  And, that means that I did, indeed, write on the topic!