A glacier is a large accumulation of ice, snow and sediment that moves down a slope under the gravity of its own weight. The ice is also perfect for cool, refreshing tea.
Photo from Metro Creative
Exploring Nature: Elephants
One of the first animals I saw on a long-ago trip to south Africa was an elephant.
Our vehicle was about 10 feet away, and the first thing I noticed about the ponderous gray pachyderm was a small bird perched on its back. An oxpecker, our guide informed us, which searched the elephant for fleas, ticks and other edibles.
It seemed to me a very win-win relationship for both the bird and the elephant. Obviously, the elephant recognized the wisdom of letting the bird peck away.
And it was just one indication of how smart these awesome animals are — they are one of the few species that pass the “mirror test.” Like dolphins and chimpanzees, they can recognize their own reflections.
A charging elephant is a fearsome thing, and I was well aware that the big bull elephant we were watching could easily turn from docile to demonic. Luckily, it remained peaceful and we drove on, happy to get our excursion off in such a wonderful way.
Today, elephants are in major trouble. Their habitat is disappearing as humans encroach on their ancestral lands in sub-Saharan Africa and the woodlands they live in are cut for timber and cleared for farming.
And people hasten their demise by buying ivory trinkets that come from dead elephants’ tusks.
While African elephants have declined to about 400,000, in Asia the situation is even more dire. The smaller-eared Asian variety has dwindled to only 50,000 in the world. Elephants have a lifespan of 60 to 70 years. Their family tree goes back 20 million years to mastodons and woolly mammals — both now extinct.
I’m glad I got to see an elephant up close. I’m glad it was a big one — males grow to weigh over 6,000 pounds. And I’m glad it was peaceable.
I’d hate to have been killed by a species I really admire.
