Sissy and Winkie meandering down the North Road.
In Asia
Early one morning, Caregiver Laurie arrived at the Asia barn to find only Winks inside the barn. Laurie walked over to shut the gate so she could feed her without worrying about being interrupted by Sissy coming in to share Winkie's food. The gate didn't shut completely right away, and Winks turned around at the gate. A little apprehensive Winkie might be about to get annoyed, Laurie told her, "It's ok, I'll put your food down." On the contrary, Winkie walked over to the gate and "super super gently and calmly pushed the gate all the way closed. She was pushing it so gently that it barely made a noise when it shut." Then, Winkie walked up to the front of the stall and waited patiently to be fed. "It was incredibly sweet," Laurie said. Not too long afterward, Sissy appeared at the barn. Winks was so excited to see her that she started shaking and twitching. Laurie opened the gate even though Winks wasn't completely finished with breakfast, and the two best friends had a very vocal and dramatic reunion. They were both making very happy vocalizations, and because they were so thrilled to be together again, Laurie wondered if maybe Winks lost track of Sis during the night. This happens fairly regularly when Sissy wanders away while Winkie is sleeping.
Click below to enjoy the slideshow from bath time for Misty and Dulary we told you about in last week's Ele-Notes.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DULARY!
Misty and Dulary spend their days in Sanctuary, rarely out of each other's sight.
Dulary celebrated the five year anniversary of the day she Found Sanctuary on Tuesday, May 1! In 2007, after forty-one years at the Philadelphia Zoo, the zoo made a landmark decision to close its elephant exhibit and Dulary packed up her trunk and moved to Tennessee. Upon her arrival at Sanctuary, Dulary needed a little convincing from Tarra to descend from the trailer, but once she did, she had a very easy transition to Sanctuary life. Dulary quickly made friends with her new companions, and today her best girlfriend is Misty. Thank you, citizens of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Zoo, for paving the way for Dulary's Sanctuary!
Over at Q –
Have you been checking out the Girls' YouTube and Facebook lately? If not, you might be missing some Elecam Encounters. We're capturing special moments in the Girls' everyday lives, as seen through the Elecam, and posting them there. Be sure to subscribe to our Youtube Channel, and Like us on Facebook to stay up to date! You'll enjoy these Elecam Encounters from the Q Girls below.
The Girls are always happy to see gentle rain showers fall, especially when there's enough to wet the earth and create a mud spa! Deb and Ron were playing in the mud the other day during a rain storm, rolling and rocking around for coating every inch of their skin. Afterward, when they came into the barn for a Protected Contact training session, they were covered in a thick casing of mud. Caregivers said they almost looked as if they were melting when the huge clumps of wet mud would splatter off of their bodies and fall to the barn floor. They then painted every bar in their stalls by rubbing their mud covered bodies, scratching every itch. Check out the video below of them playing in the mud a few weeks ago!
Minnie and Ronnie had a play date not too long ago. Elephants are very tactile and communicate so much through touch. Sort of like a handshake, elephants will sometimes greet each other by placing their trunk in the mouth of another elephant. The less dominant elephant will often perform this greeting first, as you see in the video below, with Ronnie placing her trunk in Minnie's mouth. After the initial handshake, the two Girls followed up with close body contact to show their affection for each other.
At Africa
Flora contentedly munching on leaves in the habitat.
Flora and Tange have been busy out in their habitat the past 2 weeks so their Caregivers haven't seen them by the barn much. They have dug themselves a nice watering hole up at the plateau and have been spending most of their time up there getting muddy. Both girls have been doing great with their PC training, and Flora went into the chute last week so her Caregivers were able to get her weight. It's been a while since Miss Flora has allowed us a glimpse into the size of her girth; she's been refusing to step up on the scale. Caregivers Kristy and Angela did some de-sensitization work with her one morning and the very next day, she walked thorough like she had been doing it forever, and even stood still on the scale for treats, so they were able to read her weight. There were lots of high fives and happy yells from Angela and Kristy!