This drawing was inspired by Forever Young's post. Her post reminded me of the time that I was 4 years old and at the zoo with my dad. I was feeding the elephant some peanuts, and he reached out and took my entire hand into his trunk. Way into! I don't remember being scared, just thinking that I must not have held the peanuts correctly. Of course my dad was panicked and yanked my hand out of the animals nose! Perhaps that elephant was really just reaching out for a touch, some connection with another animal. I'm sure he didn't want to be in the zoo.
I've always had a soft spot for elephants, and love to watch their pack habits. They have a matriarchal society and are very social animals, with aunts and cousins and mom's. I feel so sorry for elephants in the zoo, mostly because they are alone and must be so lonely. It just breaks my heart.
As a sideline discussion, while we were at Disney, they have an Animal Kingdom area and I took pictures of this elephant. The guide assured me that this bull needed to be a loner - but I'm just not buying it. 
6 comments:
very nice and good story....makes me kinda sad too....
i love the trunk, what a sweet story, i feel sad for all animals in the zoo, but this ellie does look mournful.
i recommend you try to see them in the wild, they are proud, powerful beasts and the babies are so loving.
by the way, welcome home, are you well now? i still have this chest infection and am getting so fed up!
I have such a funny elephant picture. I'll post it on my blog for you later today. I think you'll enjoy it.
I just watched a show about Killer Elephants that concluded young bulls need older males around to keep them in line and show them the ropes.
My Elephant Memory is at the Frank S Buck Zoo in Gainesville. The elephant had a tantrum, came charging out and sprayed some kids who were heckling her, then went back into her barn and slammed the door behind her-HARD. I almost wet myself laughing.
Nice drawing and I love the story.
I know what you mean - animals and zoos, I have such mixed feelings, I like to go because it's an amazing experience, but i hate to see wild animals in enclosures and I always feel a bit grubby afterwards because I've been complicit in their captivity.
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