Giraffe pelvis, though relatively short, has an ilium that is outspread at the upper ends. A giraffe has only two gaits: walking and galloping. Walking is done by moving the legs on one side of the body at the same time, then doing the same on the other side. When galloping, the hind legs move around the front legs before the latter move forward, and the tail will curl up. The animal relies on the forward and backward motions of its head and neck to maintain balance and the counter momentum while galloping. The giraffe can reach a sprint speed of
The Blue Giraffe thought of as lesser beings–[such as] a tribe of mutated baboons in 'The Blue Giraffe' ("Astounding", Aug 1939) ... as being as decent, rational and civilized as most men manage to be, and maybe even more so." Jamie Todd Rubin, reviewing the issue of "Astounding" in which the story originally appeared, writes "[o]f all the stories in the issue, de Camp’s is the best written. There is no feeling of pulp writing or story-telling. It is a smooth tale that comes alive in your imagination so that you feel like you are right there with the characters on their journey.