Driver spots seemingly ‘deceased giraffe’ in Michigan traffic. They weren’t far off
_fitted.png "A seemingly deceased giraffe seen in the back of a pickup truck in Michigan traffic.")
A giraffe that looked to be dead was spotted in the back of a pickup truck in traffic, raising eyebrows and questions in Michigan.
A driver recently saw the giraffe — well, the neck and head of a giraffe — in Macomb, a Detroit suburb, and snapped some photos which were shared on Facebook. The poster on Feb. 27 said the giraffe “appeared to be deceased” and wondered “is it even real”?
Many Michiganders were also curious. Or upset.
“I mean, what kind of thrill would you get from hunting a giraffe? It is one of the most docile creatures,” a commenter said.
“Oh no, it’s Geoffrey. I know it is because I’m a Toy-R-Us kid,” said another.
It turns out the truck really was hauling a dead giraffe. Sort of.
The giraffe is a taxidermy project, according to St. Clair Flats Taxidermy and taxidermist Darren Wehner. After seeing the hubbub the giraffe was causing online, Wehner took to Facebook to share photos of the project.
In taxidermy, the skin of an animal is kept and then placed on a man-made replica of the animal’s body.
His workmanship got praise in the comments section of his post.
“Awesome job!! Looks so realistic!,” one comment read. “Thanks for solving that mystery!! Really had people thinking Giraffe(s) were being hunted in Michigan!”
“My job is to preserve them so you can appreciate them forever. Some people may find it strange or different but to me, it’s art,” Wehner told WJBK.
In addition to taxidermy, Wehner is a big game hunter, he told the station. However, he says he didn’t take down this giraffe on a hunt in Africa, rather it died of natural causes at a zoo and he was commissioned to taxidermy it for a museum.
“We love animals. I know it’s a counter-intuitive argument. A lot of people don’t understand, but I promise you we love animals,” he told the outlet.
This story was originally published March 4, 2025 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Driver spots seemingly ‘deceased giraffe’ in Michigan traffic. They weren’t far off."