A Tale Of A Man And An Elephant
07/12/2009 07:32
In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.
On a hike through
the bush, he came across a young bull
elephant standing with one leg raised in the
air.
The elephant seemed
distressed, so Peter approached it very
carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected
the elephants foot, and found a large piece
of wood deeply embedded in
it.
As carefully and as
gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out
with his knife, after which the elephant
gingerly put down its foot.
The elephant turned
to face the man, and with a rather curious
look on its face, stared at him for several
tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking
of nothing else but being
trampled.
Eventually the
elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked
away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the
events of that day.
Twenty years later,
Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo
with his teenage son. As they approached the
elephant enclosure, one of the creatures
turned and walked over to near where Peter
and his son Cameron were
standing.
The large bull
elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front
foot off the ground, then put it down. The
elephant did that several times then
trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at
the man.
Remembering the
encounter in 1986, Peter could not help
wondering if this was the same elephant.
Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over
the railing, and made his way into the
enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant
and stared back in wonder.
The elephant
trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one
of Peter legs and slammed him against the
railing, killing him
instantly.
Probably wasn't the
same elephant.
