Elephants

I love elephants. I've no idea why; I just do, always have. I have a very small collection of elephant figurines. I think they're amazing animals and there's something really intriguing about them - their size, their odd gracefulness, the society they create - it's all fascinating to me.

Did you know that elephants can be quite destructive? They strip trees of bark and leaves, which they eat; there are only a few trees, such as the baobab, which can survive this treatment. They also rub against trees to scratch itches. This causes the tree to lean rather precariously; some elephants have been seen to rub against a tree until they knock it completely down. Young males have been recorded knocking trees over just for fun. Weird, huh.

Check out the San Diego Wild Animal Park's Elephant Overlook for more information about the 10 African elephants in their care. Pretty cool.

While watching Planet Earth today, they showed elephants enjoying a swim and it was not a pretty sight at all. They look really awkward swimming - really, really awkward. Legs windmilling, trunk held just above the top of the water so they can breath, loose skin floating around - it looks a lot like some crazy kind of dancing. It made me laugh.

Do you have a favorite animal? Some animal you know waaaay, waaaay too much about? Well, share!