BY KIM ATIENZA
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IT may not be the healthiest of practices, but giraffes sip each other’s urine before having sex.
According to an article in Smithsonian magazine, they do so to find out if the other (the female) is in heat.
Like humans, giraffes undergo cycles of fertility, says the magazine.
Urine sipping saves the male giraffe time and energy wasted in case he gets rejected. Snooping with a lady who is not in heat is wasted time for the male.
Giraffes are the tallest mammals on Earth.
They can run as fast as 35 miles an hour over short distances, or cruise at 10 mph over longer distances.
A giraffe’s neck is too short to reach the ground.
Giraffes only need to drink once every few days (Google).
The Smithsonian wrote: A male will crane his long neck over to the female’s rump, nuzzling his head against her genitals. After she gives her suitor careful consideration, the female will voluntarily release a squirt of pee for her partner to catch in his mouth to “savor.”
In this sense, the giraffe tongue functions a bit like an ovulation stick. It can detect if the girl is hot or not.
A giraffe pregnancy lasts 15 months.
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TRIVIA PA MORE (Various Sources): Leatherback turtle is believed to be the biggest of all turtles. They possess soft leathery skin instead of the usual hard shell.
Rare and feared to be going extinct, one such turtle washed ashore in Quezon province in 2004.
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Send your questions on anything and everything to Kuya Kim through my Twitter account @kuyakim_atienza using #AlaminKayKuyaKim
