When I said I wanted a few long necks ...

Andy feeds one of the dominate cows while (from left) Eve, Lacy and Gary look on. Check out the grin on Eve's face!

... this isn't quite what I had in mind.

New Year's Day is my dear friend Eve's birthday. She turned 22 and was trying to figure out last week how to celebrate the big day.

Eve celebrates her birthday by meeting her favorite animals face-to-face.

Here's what you have to know about Eve: giraffes are to her what horses are to me. She adores them, lives and breathes them and has a deep-abiding fascination with them. The remarkable thing is, a long-time Coloradan and Springs resident for the past two years, Eve has never been to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

I've had the opportunity to scratch a horse's tongue before, but never a giraffe's. Apparently, this bull enjoys it too!

The zoo has a renowned herd of giraffes. Not only well-known because there are so many animals, but because they are very domestic. For $1, you can buy three "giraffe crackers:" Cookie-like patties of compressed alfalfa hay that you can hand-feed the animals.

Gimme that cracker!

So on Thursday night, Andy and I met up with Eve, her sister Lacy, brother-in-law Gary and close friend Ashley. We spent the evening on safari for the chance to get up-close-and-personal with the spindle legged goofballs of the Serengeti.

What struck me the most about the giraffes was how horse-like they are. They have similar coats, similar body language, and distinct pecking orders. They even use their ears the same way, twitching them to express anger, interest and emotion.

Scene stealers: These two calves couldn't quite figure out the whole cracker-thing ... but they definitely wanted to!

We had a great time feeding and playing with the animals. It's an amazing experience, and one I will very highly recommend for any future visitors.