The giraffes are a shock. Every time you see them, everything about them seems stunning, unreal and massively out of scale.

They're so tall, their legs look like trees, their loping walks appear to be special effects. Plus, their faces seem incredibly earnest. Even their enclosure is out of whack. Their fence, their gates, their new barn are all surreally high. Giraffes nearly belong in Jurassic Park.

That is the wonder, the perpetually breathtaking magic of a zoo. The sight of real animals, of African or Asian or South American creatures we think we know from pictures, is dazzling and a rousing shake-up for intellect and spirit.

It's so easy to forget about that power, just as it's easy to forget – as I almost had – that the Sacramento Zoo is so handy and a visit full of that spirit-lifting magic.

Zoos sound mundane – until you go. The zebras, for instance, you have to stand and watch the zebras. They're big, surprisingly powerful, and even more surprisingly elegant. And look at their stripes – really look at them like you would a painting or a sunset, and their graceful patterns become otherworldly and touchingly beautiful.

Mary Healy feels that. She's been director of the Sacramento Zoo for 10 years and in the zoo business three decades. The zebras – officially Grevy's zebras – still reach something inside her.

"Honestly," she said, "when I make my rounds, the zebras just take my breath away."

See? For the roaming bands of school kids, the adults wandering more slowly, and the people who work there, the Sacramento Zoo is a special, fantastic place. It's the beauty of the setting, to be sure, but, so much more, it's the critters. There is something in the countenance of animals that connects to the human soul.

Until a recent sunny Friday, it had been years since I'd been to the zoo. We tend to say, "Yeah, yeah, a zoo. Lions and tiger and chimps, whatever. Way easier to turn on Animal Planet."

Except, it doesn't work like that. There's something visceral and primal and expansive about seeing animals for real. They're always larger, more stunning, more elemental than you expect. And it's oddly validating. The flamingos are a dazzling pink, and they really do stand on one leg.

On that Friday, the spotted hyena was sleeping in the sun, looking like a very, very large and powerful dog, Then he opened his eyes and stared at Cheri Salas, a parent herding kids from Tracy Primary Charter School.

Salas had been standing at the rail. She jumped back and stood behind a post.

"I'm kinda scared," she said a little sheepishly. "I feel like I'm meat to him."

The kids with her weren't bothered.

"He's cool," said Samantha Chavez, age 8. Her sister, Alandra, is 7 and explained why they weren't nervous: "We have a puppy," Alandra said.

A point here. You don't need to borrow a small child to go to the zoo. It's a great place for kids (see: connecting to animals), but it's also simply a great place. It's well tended and serene, the trees put a canopy over much of the 14 acres, and the overall feeling is of a lushly landscaped park.

Also, there are no dull spots. Unlike some bigger-name zoos, you don't walk miles to see the next exhibit. Everywhere you turn is an interesting animal. The orangutan is near the lemurs, which are just across from the giant anteater. The anteater, by the way, is pretty slick.

Jessica Reed, a student at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton watched the anteater with Ray Nikzat, a student at Sacramento City College. She's a zoology major. He was just as interested. The Sacramento Zoo is also a good place for a date.

Really, it is. The setting can be romantic, the food's pretty good, and, guys, I'm just saying, here's a chance to look sensitive. (For the record, Nikzat is clearly an animal person in his own right.)

The zoo's also a place to take your dad. Robert O'Connor, who's stationed at Travis Air Force Base, in Fairfield got a day's leave because his father, Tony O'Connor, was visiting from Newport, Vt. They sat on a bench watching the black-and-white ruffed lemurs swing and wrestle like children in a bounce house.

"This would be a great place," Tony said, "even if there were no animals."

Except, of course, the animals are the point, and serve a purpose, particularly for city folk – uh, like me – who can forget sometimes.

"We provide a chance for people to see a lion or a tiger, so they'll care about their habitat," Healy said. "Maybe a few more people will pay more attention to conservation. There's no replacement for that real connection."

And that connection is almost reflexive at the zoo. That day, Chloee Miller and Aliza Young, both third-graders at Westside Elementary School in Rio Linda, were visiting with Chloee's dad, Randy Miller. They, too, were impressed by the giraffes.

"They're usually the biggest animal alive," Aliza told me.

"I've never seen a taller animal," Chloee said, "except a dinosaur, and they're extinct."

"Hey, look," Aliza interrupted. Both girls got excited. "A squirrel."

Apparently, the instinctive connection to animals is not based on rarity or size. A bond is a bond.

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Tuesdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK).