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In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya
after graduating from NorthwesternUniversity .
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 teenaged 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 rear against
the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.
This is for all of my friends
who send me those heart-warming stories
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