Elephant Hunter

Mark and I have been watching the BBC documentary Planet Earth. It is beautiful. But more importantly, it is educational.

The last episode we watched was on grasslands. One segment was about elephants going to water holes in the African prairie during the dry season and the ensuing tension with the lions, who also frequent said water holes. During the day, the elephants have the upper hand. At night, because of their superior vision, the lions are king. Scenerio: two elephants wander up to a water hole. The lions are hungry, all 30 of them in the pride. An elephant is big and will feed them for awhile. The big elephant stumbles into the lions, but gets away because it's just too big. The second elephant, about half the size of the larger elephant, isn't as fortunate. The lions proceed to chase the smaller elephant, and jump onto the elephants backside to gain the advantage. The show discreetly cuts to the scene of the lions feasting on the elephant.

This is grim, but enlightening. This scenerio has played out in our house at least three times in the last week. Scenerio: It's the rainy season and the cat (mighty hunter) is trapped inside. The large elephant taunts the cat, but escapes unscathed. The smaller elephant passes by the cat, which is soon attached to the leg of the smaller elephant. The ending is not as grim, but still painful.

I'll be so glad when Orson can go outside with more regularity.

=)