It made my day

Actually, I usually supervise first matings, especially with the alpacas-- they have these flat tails shaped like ping pong paddles, and the tail can get in the way. If it does, then both the male and female genitals can become irritated with the repeated efforts of the animals-- females especially can get irritated and their genitals can even get infected or torn up. So I was indeed there, to make sure everything went right :-). I did have to help out with Bertha, because her tail just would not get out of the way-- so I pushed it aside and used a padded clip to clip it to her fleece, out of Roscoe's way LOL. I have noticed that India is becoming modern and also competing with the modern world-- but it's still exotic to me :-). I know that people where you are live much like we do here, but I like to think there are areas that aren't all industrialized and new. Someday I'd like to see India first hand-- starting with the Taj Mahal, of course. A temple elephant?!?! WOW! Now THAT is cool! What kind of temple? what do they use them for? are they sacred?? We have them in zoos here, of course, and in circuses as well. I am not a circus fan myself. I haven't been to a zoo in I don't know how long, either. I can picture the elephants uprooting trees, though-- that would be amazing to see. When I was a kid, they used to have elephant rides at a lot of county and state fairs, and I have ridden an Indian elephant before myself. It was cool. I'm sure you could train a baby elephant to pull a plow, since they are very smart-- but the big ones wouldn't work out too well-- besides, it gets really cold, rainy and snowy here for about 8 months out of the year, and I don't think the elephants would like that very much. And I only have about 3 acres of trees, which wouldn't keep them busy for long. Drat. Oh, well-- I guess I'll just have to stick with the tractor, and maybe some horses LOL.

Chrystal - I cannot believe you are doing all that - helping your little ones to reach their goal! You are a one special person I say!!!! The Mahout takes the elephant around collecting donations which people give generously. I did! People visit the temple and the elephant 'blesses' them by raising its trunk. And as for training a baby elephant to plow I doubt one can afford to keep one in the first place as maintaining an elephant is very expensive. You should visit India and be my guest. But The Taj Mahal is miles away from where I live. I suppose you could join a package tour and cover India on your own.

"The biggest happening around here was when I got Roscoe, my male alpaca, and put him in with my girls. Then, a lot was happening LOL" And you were watching that activity? Too bad chrystal.. Now let me update you on India. It is not what you think it is.It has made strides in all directions, competing with the developed world. Elephants are found in zoos and in temples. This was the temple elephant that was being taken around - not an everyday scene. I was fortunate that it passed by my gate and stood there trumpeting. That colour on its trunk is what they do here. They even dress them up. Don't ask me why!! Those owning forests use elephants to uproot trees. They are used in circuses of which I do not approve. They are also seen at tourists spots where tourists ride on them. I don't think they are used to plow fields!

I had to edit the video as there was a lot of conversation between the Mahout and me. He was asking me to come out and get close to the animal. I was not comfortable doing that. But if I had done that I would have got a much better clip. I have this passion for photography that my camera is always ready and waiting and good for me that I have several subjects in my own garden that make good pictures.

Elephants are one of my favourite animals and I'd be sooo excited if that had happened to me! I have a video facility on my camera too but it's not quite the same filming the cat rather than a huge elephant. Awesome..and thanks for sharing!

Your camera picks up sound rather nicely. I liked that I could hear the birds in the background as well. Is that paint on the elephant's face? Does it have a special meaning?

I felt honoured when it spent time in front of my gate and making that huge noise. I missed that noise GG because by the time I came out of my house it had stopped doing that. My gate is about 50 yards away.

And it shouldn't. That is what keeps us going.

My garden is my life jugs. I have been uploading images of my garden here from time to time and what you saw was just the entrance to my house. That bottle brush tree blooms a few times in the year and when it does it looks stunning. If I had gone out I could have got a better view of the elephant but silly of me that I hesitated.

Children are indeed a rare treat ajlasent. They are a great source of entertainment of the rarest kind!!

This boy who is now an adult would visit me often when he was little, sit cross legged and discuss issues with me just as an adult would! His father who is a businessman he said was all tensed up having to deal with VAT (Value added Tax)

your post actually reminded me of my own experience.. :) up to this day, when i remember it, a smile still forms on my face! :D thanks for sharing the video! ^_^

hi ringling brothers joined with b arnum and baily and evey summer they would ome to Orang ounty and t hey had a special showing early in the morning and w e would drive to the city it would be in and park with our kids who were thrilled to see all the circus animals as they were walked and fed.one time one of the handlers put our son and daughter on the back of a very gentle elephant and he rode with them, they w ere really thrilled too and we got some photos they made for us. I have no idea where those photos are now.

Precious memories indeed

There is a renowned temple a few miles away. This elephant belongs to that temple and they take it around occasionally. The tree that you see in the video is known as bottle brush. It blooms profusely twice or thrice in a year.

Now I understand you perfectly vandana that coconut must have done that to you! May many more fall on you so that we have a more hilarious vandana! It was fascinating to see this elephant spending a few minutes in front of my gate while the Mahout was ordering it to blow the trumpet if that is what it is called.The place where I live is not a place where elephants are normally seen and therefore this scene really made my day. I captured that image on my camera.

When one sees something that is usually not a place where one can find it that is what makes it exciting. The deer that you saw and that too in a school yard was indeed a rare experience. The place where I live is a residential area and seeing this animal spending some minutes in front of my gate trumpeting, alerting people in the neighbourhood was for me a dream.

What excited me was when it passed by my gate. Elephants are never seen in this area as it is a residential area.

We do have elephants but they are never seen in the area where I live. It was a pleasant sight in the morning and I was able to capture it on my camera.