Creation Tidbits – The Giraffe

The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species that exist today, and the largest ruminant. Males can be 16 to 18 feet tall and weigh up to 3,800 pounds. The record-sized bull, shot in Kenya in 1934 was 19.2 ft tall and weighed approximately 4,400 lb. Females are generally slightly shorter, and weigh less than the males do .

The giraffe is related to deer and cattle, Its range extends from Chad to South Africa. Giraffes can inhabit savannas, grasslands, or open woodlands. They prefer areas enriched with acacia growth. They drink large quantities of water and, as a result, they can spend long periods of time in dry, arid areas. When searching for more food they will venture into areas with denser foliage.

Many people think that giraffes are mute. This is a myth. though normally silent, calves bleat and make a mewing call, cows seeking lost calves bellow, and courting bulls may emit a raucous cough. Giraffes also give alarm snorts, and moaning, snoring, hissing, and flute-like sounds have been heard. ~ The Creation Book -Dr. Jobe Martin

The giraffe, like all of God’s creatures, are irreducibly complex; a closer examination reveals that these animals could not have been formed by accident or evolved even over a short period of time, their existence shows that there must have been a single creative act that brought them into existence.

What’s so special about the giraffe?

Giraffes need a very powerful heart to pump blood against the force of gravity up its long neck into its brain. Its heart is huge, it can be up to 2.5 feet long, but this can cause an equally large problem for the giraffe. If the giraffe bend down to drink water, its heart pumps with gravity instead of against gravity, this can cause the blood vessels in its brain to burst and the giraffe will die!

There is a built in protective mechanism that prevents the giraffe from dying of a blood overdose. As the giraffe bends its head down, there are valves in the arteries of its neck that begins to close; blood beyond the last valve, continues traveling to the brain, still with enough force to burst the blood vessels in the brain. The last pump of blood is directed from the brain to a group of vessels called the Rete Mirabile, similar to the sponge underneath and on the sides of the brain. The giraffes life is preserved as the powerful surge of oxygenated blood is routed to gently fill the sponge.

God made the giraffe just like it is with all systems complete and ready for any emergency. There is no way the impersonal, plus time, plus chance (evolution) could produce this animal. The functional complexity of the giraffe demands a Designer and Creator. ~ The Creation Book -Dr. Jobe Martin

But with every solution comes another problem. If the giraffe is frightened by a predator, it will raise its head, and without a protective mechanism to make up for the reduced blood flow, the giraffe will pass out, making it the main course of the day. But God designed the giraffe in such a way that as it raises its head, the arterial valves open. The sponge gently squeezes blood into its brain and the valves in the vein that goes down the neck closes, and the blood pressure of the giraffe remains safe. This allows the giraffe to quickly stand upright without passing out. The giraffe lives!

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ~ Romans 1:20-22

Note: Believing in creation or even God will not save you from your sin. It is the redemptive act of God’s Son that will saves us from sin. Be warned, even the demons believe in God and fear Him. Our faith in Jesus is the end which God desires of us…, the saving end. That faith should be evident by our work.

James 2:18-20 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?