A Shift in the Weather
Tarra at the lake
Fall has made its presence known at The Elephant Sanctuary. The leaves are turning, staff are keeping their hoodies handy, and we are noticing changes with the Girls as well. As Caregiver Peter puts it, “the shift in seasons has been accompanied by shifts in elephant behavior.” What sort of changes? He explains…
“Sissy and Winkie are moving much faster, traveling more, making unusual decisions, and showing up in odd places. Normally during a feed, Sissy moves pretty fast and Winkie moseys. I've seen Winkie running twice in the space of a week, on one day she actually passed Sissy and was raising dust on the road from the speed of her travel (i.e., she was violating the 15 mph speed limit!) They're both doing pretty awesome though.”
“Shirley has left her summer home base of "right field" and migrated up to 'Marcella’s,' trading grassy fields for narrow trails that go deep into pine woods. Shirley has been in there pretty much all week, although she has moved quite a bit within that area. ‘Far down on left branch’ to ‘far down on right branch’ is over a mile of travel, with some moderately steep hills.”
“Tarra’s patterns have shifted too. She's still wandering extremely widely, but she hasn't been hanging out much at Marcella's with Shirley. One day, she began near North Trough, then traveled well over a mile down to North Road. I think she was headed to North Gate, but she stopped to watch Caregiver Kelly T. cut browse. We fed her there, but Winkie showed up and stole her food. Afterwards Tarra followed us back to the corral, where there was a very happy reunion with Sissy, and then after about 20 minutes wandered off down the pipeline herself. It seems like she has literally been to every part of the property in the last five days.”
“And Misty and Dulary - well, a little of that has gotten into them too. They are still staying pretty close to the barn. This week was filled with a lot of trumpeting, grunting, ear flaps, and happy wheezing as each morning they left the barn pretty much as soon as it was opened, and spent time in North Yard grazing or napping, and eating hay in South Yard at night. They haven't seemed to want to spend time in the barn at all, going out after their regular medical treatments with very little coaxing needed.”
Over at Q Barn and Habitat
October is Billie’s birthday month! If you follow us on Facebook and keep up with the EleNotes, you know about Billie’s birthday fundraiser and the Fun Run we are planning in her honor here in Hohenwald, TN.
The trio of Billie, Liz, and Frieda are as close as ever, and Caregivers recently recorded a “reunion” of sorts between the three…after a lengthy separation of about 5 minutes.
The Elephant Sanctuary would also like to thank the State of Tennessee, Lewis County, and the City of Hohenwald for recognizing October as “Elephant Awareness Month.”
Remember to keep up with all of the Girls via our EleCams!