THE KISS CERAMIC TREE DECORATION

The giraffe’s heart is extremely powerful because it must pump blood all the way up the neck to the brain perched some ten feet above. With this necessary high blood pressure, one would think the giraffe would blow its brains out when it lowers its head to drink. This doesn’t happen because of a number of extraordinary design features such as, reinforced artery walls, pressure sensing signals, one-way check valves and an amazing spongy tissue filled with small blood vessels located at the base of the brain. This “wonder net” regulates blood flow into the brain. All these systems, and others, work together to maintain a steady flow of blood to the brain at just the right pressure when the giraffe lowers or raises his head. This giraffe was photographed at the zoo in Oakland, CA.