Giraffes necking

[bk090@freenet.carleton.ca (David Brez Carlisle)]

I have bee off for two or three days and have not yet read all
150 posts in my m ailbox, so I may be behind the times.

Someone (I forget who)_ said that giraffe's do not use their horns
when they side-swipe with their necks.  Not true.  When I have 
observed giraffes sparring (in the Sudan) it seemed to me that the
main objective was to hit the opponent with the horns.  A neck-to-
neck strike was  only fortuitous when one of them dodged.

How much that afects our discussions on the possible use of dino
necks for aggression I don't know.  Giraffe's only use neck bouts
in male-to-male mating fights.  At least I have never seen them 
use this kind of action for protection from predators.  When a
lion attacks a giraffe he (or rather she - it usually a female)
attacks from behind or to the side, and the chief form of 
defence is running away.  A giraffe can easily outrun a lion.
The only time I have seen a  giraffe brought down by lions was
when two attacked together.

BUt enough about rigaffe's necks.  They do not really make a
good model for dinos - no mammal does.

David

--
>From: David Brez Carlisle
bk090@Freenet Carleton.CA