Watch any wildlife programme on TV and the one thing you are guaranteed to see is yellow-billed oxpeckers removing and feeding on ticks and other bugs from the backs of African mammals or in this case Thornicroft’s giraffe. Oxpeckers also feed at wounds and cuts and subsequently wash down their meal with a nice helping of blood. Despite this, most mammals see this bizarre vampiric behaviour as a price worth paying for, for receiving a free pest-control service.
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John Mallaney 