Elephants are perhaps, my most favorite animals. They seem to be good-hearted creatures. Gentle Giants. There are two types on the planet, African elephants and Asian elephants. But we have more forms of elephants around. We’ll get to that in a moment.
Perhaps, more than anything, elephants are good listeners. Well, those ears account for a lot of that. They can hear in ranges that humans cannot. But they also listen with their feet, picking up vibrations from long distances. Incredibly.
We all know these sentient creatures are massive — around six to seven tons. And, they live for quite a long time, compared to many animals, about 60 to 70 years. We have a long history studying elephants, but there is still so much to learn about these incredible creatures.
It follows that we have been a bit preoccupied with them in many ways. They have charmed our world and our hearts.
They have also sparked our imagination, showing up in books, TV, and movies.
Let’s start with the ABCs of things at Sesame Street. The elephant there was named Mr. Snuffleupagus. He wasn’t revealed to audiences until 1985 because, in the beginning, “Snuffy” was only talked about. No one ever saw him, except for good old Big Bird. But then there was a big reveal. I was in college by that point, but oh, the joy.
I remember many elephants from childhood, and among them was Dumbo. That guy was the star of the classic 1941 Disney film. He was born with those abnormally large, floppy ears. Poor guy. Everyone made fun of Dumbo until the other elephants realized he could use his ears to fly. On a personal note, I have large floppy ears myself. And. I still cry elephant tears when they take him from his mother.
Yet, my favorite elephant book was Babar. Yes, Babar the elephant was a character created by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931. One of the best things to come out of France. Another sad story. As a young elephant, his mother was killed by a hunter. But. Good Babar escaped and left the jungle. He would then go on to visit a big city. Brunhoff wrote seven books about Babar. Then he died in 1937. His son took over from there, producing many more.
I think Babar probably held on to this memory, as real elephants never forget. The memory of elephants is extraordinary. This is for good reason, as they have the largest brains of all land mammals. With these big brains, they have the ability to recall many things. Like distant watering holes, other elephants and humans they have encountered. They do this even after much time has passed.
But maybe the coolest thing is that elephants transmit their wealth of knowledge from generation to generation. They do this through the matriarchs. The big mamas. They pass on important things about life, and this sharing of information helps the elephants’ survival.
There’s more about their memories. They can recall the path to sources of food and water across great distances. Even more impressive, they set their internal clocks so that they get the place where their fruity snacks are located and they do this at the time the fruit is exactly ripe.
Which brings me to Horton. His qualities encompass those real-life elephants who seem incredibly kind, compassionate, and in touch with all that exists around them. Of course, we know that Horton can hear a little tiny Who. Maybe that’s what is driving our incredible elephants. Perhaps they have some small Who, guiding the way.
Maybe life gives us all a little Who. If only we will stop and listen.
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“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
― Stephen R. Covey
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“The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent’.”
― Alfred Brendel
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“There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.”
― G. K. Chesterton
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Who’s who? Hear them. Elephants, that’s who.
