Or, for that matter, an elephant....

 

No, I will not further bombard you with Africa photos, except for these. It was fascinating to me to see the protectiveness that this elephant herd showed toward their littlest one.  You can see the baby on the left --- he (or she?  Dunno) was at all time surrounded by the others, and when we--in our vehicle---got a little too close for their comfort, the one nearest to the baby always let us know it.  Here (above) you can see the mildly confrontational stance, the ears extended...  And then here (below)...

.....when we didn't sufficiently back off, the guardian of the baby became a little more clearly annoyed.  When she was finally satisfied that we were not a threat, she tore off a tree branch and fed the baby some leaves. Then, gradually, they all moved off into the underbrush and went on their stately, lumbering way...as did we (less stately).  We could watch the movement of the trees as they continued on their way. For us, it was an awe-inspiring encounter. For them? Ho hum.

These were all females, with the baby.  Males travel alone and when we encountered a male (very large, below) we immediately put the car in reverse and beat a retreat.  You don't want to mess with that.

I am back home now after a veeerrryyy  long trip back and a couple days of resulting jet lag. Tomorrow I fly to Los Angeles, in order to speak Thursday at Cal State Lancaster.  Then on Sunday I head with Alfie to Maine for the summer. Lots of work to be transferred from my desk and computer here to my desk and computer there. 

My daughter from SF is in Boston this week, with her friend Steve and their dog Penny; so we had dinner wiht them last night and will again tonight. Penny, a chihuahua, unfortunately does not like other dogs, so poor Alfie is mystified and frustrated at the fact of a visiting dog but no playing allowed.  Penny gets shut away in my office when she visits. Alfie lies on the floor outside the office door wondering what the heck is going on.

Comments

[jama]

These are awesome photos. I LOVE elephants. Thanks for posting them :).

[Amy]

Are you doing any other appearances in L.A.?

[Lois Lowry]

No, only Thursday night at Cal State Lancaster. Then back to the East Coast.

[Amy]

I am really jealous. I will have to live virtually through your great pictures!