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Description
Here's something silly this time!

Journal Entry: 1547
Date: May 2nd, 2020

While out doing research on elephant herd relations, something happened on this day that I can say has never been witnessed in elephant behavior before. It started out like any normal day of research: locating, studying, and documenting the daily lives of elephants and how they communicate with one another. After taking notes, I decided to pack up and search for another area to examine. I just started to walk away from my previous post, a male elephant appeared all by itself.

When I first spotted the elephant going about its business, I assumed that this peculiar pachyderm was wandering the plains in search of a mate. As I studied the roaming male bull elephant, more elephants started to show up to the scene. I thought that maybe the lone elephant trespassed on another herd's territory, and the others came over to confront said trespasser. That seemed to be the case until I noticed the unusual way the members of the herd approached the suspicious male. They appeared to sneak up on the male; not wanting the elephant to spot them. I was rather amused by how the elephants quietly tip-toed closer and closer to their target. In fact, I could have sworn I saw one member tip-toe on it's two hind legs like you would see in a cartoon. All of a sudden, one of the elephants jumped out and surprised the startled elephant. I thought at that point, things were going to get real ugly. However, instead of merely attacking the male elephant, the attacker extended its trunk, and proceeded to tickle the male elephant with its trunk. Before the elephant could react to the surprised attack, the rest of the herd jumped out and joined in on the strange group tickling. “It was an ambush!” I said to myself, as one by one, each elephant made contact with their ticklish trunks. The male elephant jumped on his hind legs in an attempted to move away from the tickling tormentors. However, he was so overwhelmed by the herd, that there was little he could have done. All that laughing eventually tired the poor pachyderm to the point that its hind legs started to give out. Not only that, but the sheer shaking from his uncontrollable laughter made it impossible for him to stand any longer. The tickled-pink elephant swayed and wobbled back and forth until he lost his balance and.....BOOM!!! A big thud was heard echoing through the plains as the giggling pachyderm tumbled onto his bulbous bottom. Now the helpless elephant could only flail his trunk and limbs as he found himself at the mercy of the relentless tickle torture it was still receiving. The laughing elephant shook, tumbled and bounced all over as the swarm of wiggling wobbly twitchy trunks poked, pulled, and prodded at the poor elephant's thick, yet sensitive tender hide. The sound of his laughter was now loud enough to scare off even the mightiest predators. Minutes later, as quickly as the tickling began, it all came to a sudden halt. The elephants stopped teasing their victim, and proceeded to help the exhausted fellow get back up on his feet. The dazed confused elephant wobbled about; trying to regain his composure. Eventually the lightheaded dizziness wore off, and he came to his senses. The herd then began to walk away together, with the tickled elephant joining in the herd. They all laughed cheered and seemingly danced in celebration of the strange events that occurred.

After nearly fifteen minutes of thought, I connected all the dots and came up with the conclusion that seemed to make the most sense. What I saw was not an attack on a trespassing elephant, but some sort of initiation ritual. What I thought was a lone elephant about to be attacked by a defensive herd, was actually a new member completing its initiation ceremony. Instead of being rejected, it turned out the lonely male was actually being welcomed as that herd's newest member.

During the time I traveled home, I reflected on what an extraordinary opportunity it was to see something that had never been observed before in elephant/herd behavior. As for that particular herd, I hope maybe someday I may come across them, so I may thank them for putting on one heck of a show.

'Til nextime,
Cheers!

(c) Trunkator

Description
Here's something silly this time!

Journal Entry: 1547
Date: May 2nd, 2020

While out doing research on elephant herd relations, something happened on this day that I can say has never been witnessed in elephant behavior before. It started out like any normal day of research: locating, studying, and documenting the daily lives of elephants and how they communicate with one another. After taking notes, I decided to pack up and search for another area to examine. I just started to walk away from my previous post, a male elephant appeared all by itself.

When I first spotted the elephant going about its business, I assumed that this peculiar pachyderm was wandering the plains in search of a mate. As I studied the roaming male bull elephant, more elephants started to show up to the scene. I thought that maybe the lone elephant trespassed on another herd's territory, and the others came over to confront said trespasser. That seemed to be the case until I noticed the unusual way the members of the herd approached the suspicious male. They appeared to sneak up on the male; not wanting the elephant to spot them. I was rather amused by how the elephants quietly tip-toed closer and closer to their target. In fact, I could have sworn I saw one member tip-toe on it's two hind legs like you would see in a cartoon. All of a sudden, one of the elephants jumped out and surprised the startled elephant. I thought at that point, things were going to get real ugly. However, instead of merely attacking the male elephant, the attacker extended its trunk, and proceeded to tickle the male elephant with its trunk. Before the elephant could react to the surprised attack, the rest of the herd jumped out and joined in on the strange group tickling. “It was an ambush!” I said to myself, as one by one, each elephant made contact with their ticklish trunks. The male elephant jumped on his hind legs in an attempted to move away from the tickling tormentors. However, he was so overwhelmed by the herd, that there was little he could have done. All that laughing eventually tired the poor pachyderm to the point that its hind legs started to give out. Not only that, but the sheer shaking from his uncontrollable laughter made it impossible for him to stand any longer. The tickled-pink elephant swayed and wobbled back and forth until he lost his balance and.....BOOM!!! A big thud was heard echoing through the plains as the giggling pachyderm tumbled onto his bulbous bottom. Now the helpless elephant could only flail his trunk and limbs as he found himself at the mercy of the relentless tickle torture it was still receiving. The laughing elephant shook, tumbled and bounced all over as the swarm of wiggling wobbly twitchy trunks poked, pulled, and prodded at the poor elephant's thick, yet sensitive tender hide. The sound of his laughter was now loud enough to scare off even the mightiest predators. Minutes later, as quickly as the tickling began, it all came to a sudden halt. The elephants stopped teasing their victim, and proceeded to help the exhausted fellow get back up on his feet. The dazed confused elephant wobbled about; trying to regain his composure. Eventually the lightheaded dizziness wore off, and he came to his senses. The herd then began to walk away together, with the tickled elephant joining in the herd. They all laughed cheered and seemingly danced in celebration of the strange events that occurred.

After nearly fifteen minutes of thought, I connected all the dots and came up with the conclusion that seemed to make the most sense. What I saw was not an attack on a trespassing elephant, but some sort of initiation ritual. What I thought was a lone elephant about to be attacked by a defensive herd, was actually a new member completing its initiation ceremony. Instead of being rejected, it turned out the lonely male was actually being welcomed as that herd's newest member.

During the time I traveled home, I reflected on what an extraordinary opportunity it was to see something that had never been observed before in elephant/herd behavior. As for that particular herd, I hope maybe someday I may come across them, so I may thank them for putting on one heck of a show.

'Til nextime,
Cheers!

(c) Trunkator