R.I.P. Mr. Jones, a/k/a Scotty the Elephant

Scotty the Elephant died of colic last night at the Louisville Zoo. He was the first elephant ever born there. He was three years old.

I had the privilege of getting to know Scotty through a friend who cleans the elephant cages every week. I learned that "Scotty" was his stage name. His real name, the name his trainers used, was "Mr. Jones," in honor of a famous elephant trainer. The stage name helped him ignore the tourists when they yelled out "Scotty." He only responded when someone called him "Mr. Jones."

This cute elephant was a toddler, and all boy. The last time I saw him, he kept taking his trunk (an elephant trunk contains 1100 different muscles) to tickle my son's toes through his flip-flops. Then he'd wrap his trunk around our necks and give us an elephant hug.

It's said that elephants have extraordinary memories, particularly for scent. They can recognize a previous visitor by her perfume. I do think Scotty/ Mr. Jones recognized me the second time we met.

The elephant team at the Louisville Zoo is talented, dedicated and very kind. I am so sorry for their loss.

Elephants Gone Wild

A shocking report just received from overseas:

Security forces armed with loud hailers were deployed in eastern Sri Lanka Monday to drive away wild elephants blocking access to polling booths, police said.

Villagers in Wellaveli told the authorities that they were unable to vote at the first local elections in 14 years because a herd of elephants had blocked their polling booth, a police official in the area said.

"We sent a team of commandos in armoured personnel carriers and loud hailers and sirens to drive away the elephants," the official said. "The roads have now been cleared."

Surely those weren't elephants disrupting the democratic process. They must have been RINOs.

Update: The Washington Post confirms that the Sri Lankan elephants' obstruction of voting is "not a massive right-wing conspiracy."

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

GOP: Beware of Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Given the name of this blog, I couldn't resist:

"Wildlife experts in northeastern India are experimenting with a new weapon to prevent marauding elephants from destroying homes and crops and trampling people in villages close to their habitat -- super-hot chilies."

Click here for details. If the Democratic National Convention hosts a chili cook-off, you'll know why.