This one is for the kids. Please share with them. (Words & Photos by Robert B.)
ELEPHANT PLAYMATE
©2009 Robert C Burnham
(another ' my animal friends zoo-page')
My elephant travels with his trunk
It's filled with many things
Mouse repellant, all his clothes
And the songs he likes to sing.
His favorite song he'll sing for you
It's his pleasure, it's his choice
Bang your drum, play your flute
And listen to his elephant voice.
"I am so happy you came today
To visit me awhile
I see you're waiting willingly
For me to make you smile"
"Should I fill my trunk with water
And spray it out on you
Or should I flap my mighty ears
And Fly like 'Dumbo' flew?"
"What if I were to pick you up
Place you high upon a tree
Would you be my friend forever
Would you stay and play with me?"
THE ELEPHANT
In some cultures the elephant has been treated as royalty or treated as a god. Yet, throughout history these great beasts have been hunted for their ivory tusks, made to pull lumber and stone and have even been forced to fight in many wars.
Weighing up to 15,000 pounds and standing as tall as thirteen feet, elephants are the largest land animals on earth. They are plant-eating mammals. Besides there shear size elephants are set apart from other animals by their advanced intelligence and personality. Elephants live an elaborate social life, they care for and raise there young similarly to the way people do. They teach their young, they protect their young and they reprimand their young when the young are disobedient and misbehaving. Elephants show joy at the birth of new family members and they grieve their dead. They are known to bury their dead with branches and leaves.
It is said that an elephant never forgets, and with good reason. The area of their brains that handles all memory is so large that it bulges out from the sides of the skull.
Of the three remaining elephant species in the world, we are most familiar with the Bush Elephant that roam the plains of Africa. The next familiar species is the Asian (or Indian) Elephant ranging throughout Indo-China. Finally, the less popular species is the African Forest Elephants which are distinctly smaller and live in the densest and least accessible areas of Africa's rain forests.
In 1979 the world initiated a world-wide ban on the killing of elephants for their tusks, better known as the Ivory Trade. But still even today elephants are still killed daily for their ivory and an illegal ivory trade continues. Poachers face harsh punishment up to and including death, but the killing continues because of the lure of easy money. The elephant deserves our compassion and our protection.
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Comments: 38 ( 2 removed by Robert - just a simple man - B. )
OTHERS IN THIS SERIES:
http://gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977225409 - ostriches
http://gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977182169 - giraffes
http://gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977180512 - zebras
http://gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977191963 - hippos
http://gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977208567 - tortoises
http://gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977203771 - big cats
I miss the elephants at the Detroit Zoo. We had one of them for 50 years before someone figured out that the cold concrete was the cause of their foot infections. They were all sent, at great expense, to zoo in a warmer climate. Imagine the per pound shipping cost!? It was the kind, humane thing to do.
They have green pastures in North Carolina Jan. No concrete.
Glad to hear it. I think our elephants went to San Diego. The Michigan winters were just too hard on the elephants.
One of 'em died a few months ago
Bummer. I didn't know that, but living up north keeps us out of the metro Detroit news loop. They were over 50 years old when they were moved, so maybe it was old age. I'm glad she had a comfortable place to live her last years.
Save the elephants!
I like it a lot and know my students will love it. Can I print it and share it with them? Thank you for posting to our group.
Jen, you can. The others will need to buy the book. lol
gee I love the pictures and the knowlegde you have of the elephants
Thanks for sharing! :)
Absolutely loved it... bravissimo! :-)
Blessings and best wishes - S.
that was awesome,"Mouse repellant", cute.
Wonderful! :)
I'm a kid at heart and I just loved this!
Thanks so much for posting to my group.
Robert this is delightful and fun. Not only a sweet poem but some great facts as well. Too many childrens poems and stories make animals look like fun playful creatures. This way they can be taught that they are ineed wild animals. Look admire but don't touch.
Thanks Vivian for agreeing with my two-prong approach. Offer something the kids can simply enjoy and then offer something they can learn.
Thanks Robert. There is a sub species that trabels in the desert too. They don't need water as often as the rest.
Tell me more Sharon, I think they just may be Bush Elephants. I do not know of any other subspecies left living. Before man's time there were 345 known subspecies with some on every continent except Antartica. This is a childrens' book I'm working on but still I have to be factual.
They are a branch of the bush elephant, but have adapted to the desert.
Beautiful Robert ... my son will love it and today is his birthday!
He and I rode an elephant when he was just a toddler (he's eleven today) one of his great elephant memories. He collects elephant figures and has some hand carved ones from all over the world. One of his favorite places to hang out is by the elephants at our local zoo!
I'm going to go check out your giraffe one next - my daughter's animal of choice. We had a hard time dragging her away from the giraffe exhibit while we were at the living desert in southern California.
Robert, your poem would make a great children's book although Disney probably wouldn't let you use the Dumbo reference. Great photo essay and poem! I appreciate your ecological awareness.
Thanks for sharing with READING BOOKS ONLINE!
thanks!
I loved the pictures of the Elephants.
Thanks so much for letting us in on the beauty that is the elephant.
Thanks for posting to my group, Anythingwriting
Nice, I like it.
how fun, Robert!
Looks good, Roberto -- informative, too! Gathermailed you a couple of minor edits.
Great pix of course -- really like the half-submerged heffalump under the "be my friend forever" line.
Thanks Tracy, my sweet & bodacious editor, for you compliment and your constructive reviews. I will pay heed as soon as time permits.
Very nice
Amazing creatures!
wonderful
Great piece and pictures.
Your sis
This essay made me cry, such majestic animals and some of us care very little for their lives!
Thank you Robert!