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 and inspected the elephant’s 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 hunting 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 teen-aged 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 couldn’t 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 his stupid ass against the railing, killing him instantly. Probably wasn’t the same elephant.

Inspiration

14 thoughts on “Inspiration

  • May 15, 2008 at 9:02 am
    Permalink

    ha, I have a b ook called “Chicken Poop for the Soul” is has loys of stories like that……

  • May 15, 2008 at 9:07 am
    Permalink

    This heart-warming tale of man vs. nature has made my day. Excellent lesson to be learned here.

    And that lesson is: humans are soft and weak and elephants are strong and stompy.

  • May 15, 2008 at 9:32 am
    Permalink

    mwahahahaha.
    brilliant. thank you, you’ve just made my entire day.

  • May 15, 2008 at 9:57 am
    Permalink

    That was great. I thought it was going to be some hippy love day story but now it’s the best.

  • May 15, 2008 at 1:41 pm
    Permalink

    damn that was funny

  • May 15, 2008 at 3:13 pm
    Permalink

    hmmm… methinks I shall be more careful reading your blog from now on. How depressing.

  • May 15, 2008 at 7:28 pm
    Permalink

    OK. Now I’ve learned it’s a fake story. I feel better now, and can appreciate the satire. 🙂

  • May 18, 2008 at 9:36 am
    Permalink

    Ha ha my laughing at the end nearly drowned out Meat Loaf which has started up next door loudly!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.