Sunday, June 7, 2015

Out of the Jurisdiction: Elephants

When in the bush, lodges don’t have fences, so the animals you came to see often come to see you.

This big bull elephant arrived in camp the day I arrived and stayed around that evening to munch on the tasty tree leaves right outside the room.  The next morning he moved toward the parking lot.


We learned to beware breeding herds of elephants with protective mothers and bull elephants in must.  The primary meaning of "in must" is "I am horny."  The secondary meaning of "in must" is
"If I don't find a receptive female elephant soon, I am going to start a bar room brawl."


We came across a breeding herd of perhaps 30 elephants, with mature adults and juveniles as young as one month old.  At first the elephants were charming, until they started to
feel threatened and began moving to encircle our vehicle.


Fortunately, a bull elephant in must that was leading the herd found a beguiling female
 to distract him.  We skedaddled.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

A great encounter. How I miss that! Actually, how I miss Africa! And I still haven't made it to the Okavango Delta (Botswana)...

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Much happier outcome :) than a bar room brawl! Fantastic images Jack.

Luis Gomez said...

Cool pictures!

Taken For Granted said...

How fortunate that these elephants didn't take offense at your photography. You managed an unforgettable encounter that produced great photos. I envy you this trip.

Those huge structures in my b&w photo are the upstream water intakes for the five power generators at Oahe Dam. The crane can be used to remove objects caught in the flow of water. The rocks in the foreground are on the face of the Dam itself holding back Lake Oahe that extends 100 miles northwest into North Dakota.

Sharon said...

More fantastic photos Jack! What a great opportunity!

RedPat said...

What an experience, Jack!

Birdman said...

Jack, what an adventure you are on here. I've been doing some catching up, you could say. Elephants, zebras and family, Oh my!

Sylvia K said...

Ah, what great captures and giggles to start my day, Jack!! And what an experience for you -- definitely better than being caught in a barroom brawl!!

Michelle said...

Much like Taken for Granted, I envy you on this trip! Such fantastic encounters and photographs!

William Kendall said...

I am envious. Such amazing creatures!

Kate said...

Where is Lowell when we need him to make one of his pithy comments about the last photo? Elephants are such magnificent animals. My favorite!

SRQ said...

Only you, Jack, could successfully attempt a humorous way to explain 'in must' on a photo blog. These photos are wonderful. Amazing to hear that the elephants wandered so close to your lodge -- very exciting! Your encounters appear to be so close, maybe you didn't need your long lens after all?

Randy said...

Those two should get a room.

Andy said...

Nice photos Jack. I also learn they must, when "in must". :)

VP said...

Impressive and a bit scary...

Karl said...

Wow, amazing photos, Jack !
I am a bit envious... :)