Dusty Elephants
A Little Dirt Never Hurt Anyone - Patty from Peanuts Cartoon
Readers regularly remind me that information about the African animals I write about in my stories is new to them. I appreciate this feedback since one of my goals is education, plus, readers’ comments often inspire a new story. Last week’s post, A Day at the Spa, about Big Tusker Craig’s experience at the mud hole encouraged me to explain why elephants, much like Pig Pen of Peanuts fame, enjoy a good coating of dirt.
Like elephants, Pig Pen is confident in who he is and carries himself with dignity and respect. He treats others well and hopes they will do the same for him (they often do not, but he perseveres). Pigpen considers it a point of pride that he is cloaked in the 'dust of countless ages. https://peanuts.fandom.com
Big Tusker Craig enjoys a dust bath during the last year’s drought.
An elephant’s hide looks tough, but in fact it is sensitive to the strong African sun and parasites like ticks. Coating themselves in dust or mud protects their skin from the intense sun and biting insects.
Wet mud leaves interesting patterns on the elephants’ skin
You can often tell what part of the country elephants are from based on the colour of the mud they sport. In Amboseli in southern Kenya, the elephants are a dusty silver from the volcanic soil of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
A family of elephants spray mud from a puddle on the Amboseli Plain
At Reteti Elephant Orphanage the elephants take on the rusty red colour of the earth in the arid region of northern Kenya. The keepers shovel dirt on the orphans and provide access to a mud hole to ensure they are protected and experience the benefits of a good mud coating.
Elephant orphans at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary are treated to dust bath by their keepers.
It’s hilarious to watch the babies pile on and roll around in the dirt. They appreciate the rewards of mud long before they learn how to use their trunks to administer their own dust bath.
I’ve always been curious why elephants don’t sneeze when they suck up so much dust in their trunks. I would! Their trunks are amazing, a straw for drinking, a hose for dusting and an arm for browsing.
As a photographer, I look for photo opportunities to show how dust or mud can add drama to an image, like this one I call Mud in Your Eye, from The Wisdom of Elephants.
Mud in Your Eye - Amboseli Kenya