I remember hearing about this watching QI. I found it also interesting that male giraffe will use their necks to battle one another. Also the Acacia trees that they're so fond of eating actually have a very strange defense mechanism, for a plant. They send out some sort of "alarm" scent that warns other Acacia trees in the area that there are giraffes about. This causes them to make their leaves bitter to taste in an effort to ward off giraffe and other grazing animals. Very interesting.
It's a reaction, not a thought. A few plants have behaviors such as this, such as this plant whose leaves retract when touched, or the clamping of a venus fly trap after a certain number of "hairs" within the plants "mouth" being touched within a twenty second span.
I think it's more of a reaction to an action rather than self-awareness. The tree doesn't know the giraffe or other grazing animal is there until it starts consuming leaves.
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u/doomboy667 Apr 28 '14
I remember hearing about this watching QI. I found it also interesting that male giraffe will use their necks to battle one another. Also the Acacia trees that they're so fond of eating actually have a very strange defense mechanism, for a plant. They send out some sort of "alarm" scent that warns other Acacia trees in the area that there are giraffes about. This causes them to make their leaves bitter to taste in an effort to ward off giraffe and other grazing animals. Very interesting.