Giraffe Salad

“Come over here if you’d like to feed the giraffes!” called a zookeeper in a tan vest.

“Oh, can we go feed the giraffes?” Jessie asked her parents.

“Me too?” Justin asked. Both of their families were standing close to the giraffe area at the zoo.

“All right. Sounds fun!” Their parents agreed.

The kids ran ahead, joining the group of parents and children that had clustered around the zookeeper.

“Who knows what giraffes like to eat?” the zookeeper asked.

“Leaves! Grass? Bugs!” Everyone called out answers.

“In the wild, giraffes use their long necks and tongues to reach the very highest leaves on trees. They also like to eat shrubs, grass, and fruits. Today, you’ll be feeding the giraffes their favorite snack—lettuce!”

“Lettuce?” Jessie looked at Justin and laughed. “I didn’t know giraffes liked lettuce!”

“It’s giraffe salad,” Justin said as he made a funny face. Jessie giggled.

The zookeeper began handing out lettuce to the crowd. “Hold it out past the fence where the giraffes can see it. Make sure you let go of it once the giraffe bites down!”

Justin and Jessie each took one piece of lettuce and found a spot along the fence.

“Here giraffes! Come get a snack!” Jessie called as she waved her lettuce toward the animals.

“We need one to come over to us!” Justin said as he watched the giraffes start eating other people’s lettuce.

“Let’s try holding your lettuce up higher,” suggested Justin’s dad. He picked Justin up so he could reach the lettuce over the top of the fence.

“One’s coming!” Justin yelled.

“Daddy, quick! Pick me up, too!” Jessie begged.

A tall giraffe loped toward Justin and leaned her long neck down to his hand. Justin pushed his lettuce piece toward her, and she bit the end of it. Justin let go, and the lettuce disappeared into the giraffe’s mouth.

“She ate it!” Justin announced proudly.

“Want another piece?” Jessie asked as the giraffe turned to her. Jessie reached further toward the giraffe so it would be sure to see the lettuce. The giraffe’s long tongue came out. But instead of licking the lettuce, it licked Jessie’s hand! Shloop!

“Eww! She slobbered on me!” said Jessie.

“Hey! Her tongue is purple!” Justin noticed as it came toward Jessie’s hand again.

“Ick!” Jessie dropped her lettuce before the giraffe’s rough tongue could lick her again. But the giraffe didn’t mind and ate the lettuce off the ground. Everyone laughed.

“Didn’t you like the giraffe’s tongue?” Jessie’s mom asked.

“No! It felt weird,” Jessie answered as she held her hand away from her.

“I think we’ll have to do some serious handwashing before we eat lunch,” Justin’s mom said.

“Can we stop at the tigers before we eat?” Justin asked.

“All right. The tiger exhibit is just around the corner,” Justin’s dad said as he led the way.

“I see him! I see him!” Justin jumped up and down and pointed at a huge orange cat with black stripes. It was lying down by a large rock. The tiger gave a big yawn.

“Must be his nap time.”

“Kitty!” said Ellie.

“Yes, it is a cat. But you can’t pet this kitty; he’s a tiger. Rarrr!” said Ellie’s dad.

“Rarr, rarr,” Ellie growled back.

“How about we find a spot to have our lunch now?” suggested Justin’s mom.

“Yeah! Sounds great,” everyone agreed.

After a much-needed handwashing, they found the picnic area and sat at a table to eat their lunch.

“Wow! We must have seen a gazillion animals today,” said Jessie as she munched on her banana.

“We sure did,” said her dad, “but there are still a lot more to go.”

“You think this is a lot? There are even more animals in the world than there are in this zoo,” Justin’s dad added.

“But Dad,” asked Justin, “if there are so many animals all around the world, how did Noah get all of them to fit on the Ark?”

“Hmmm,” his dad replied as he finished his third cookie. “First of all, God only sent two of each animal and seven pairs of some.”

“And Noah didn’t need to have every single type of animal,” Justin’s mom added.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, God sent two of each KIND of animal to the Ark, like two of the bear kind, two of the elephant kind, two of the cat kind.”

“You see, Noah didn’t need to have all different types of cats like two tigers, two lions, two leopards, and two kitties like Jessie’s. He just needed two of the cat kind. Even though they look and act different, they are all still cats.”

“Like my cat,” said Jessie, “he’s orange with stripes, but I have a friend who has a fluffy gray cat. But they’re both still cats, right?”

“Right! They’re from the cat kind,” said Justin’s dad.

“So there would’ve been room on the huge Ark for all the kinds of animals, right?” Justin asked.

“Yep,” Justin’s dad agreed.

“God is super smart to have Noah make the Ark so big,” Jessie said.

“Hey, guys, we’ve got more animals to look at,” said Jessie’s dad.

“I wanna see the otters,” Jessie said excitedly.

“How about the porcupines? I think those are neat.”

No one could decide where to start. Finally, Ellie clapped her hands and pointed to the zebras nearby and said, “No, no! Horsies! We see horsey!”

And that settled it. Off they went to enjoy the rest of the day at the zoo, starting with Ellie’s favorite, the zebra “horsies.”