Posted on 01/20/2014 6:06:44 PM PST by lbryce
I hit post before finishing my thought. Bleh. So if the elephant population can change (smaller tusks) in such a short time, there’s no reason to think that a similar change regarding size couldn’t also take place.
There are stories in India that the elephants here used to be bigger than they are now.
That was just another one of their catchphrases.
IIRC one of them found a Zippo lighter with ‘Malmorg in Plano’ inscribed on it and so they incorporated into their act. It was a phrase of mystery, no one knew if Malmorg was a man, a company, if Plano TX was where he/it was located. Great stuff.
Oh, and further, Asian elephants now are bred specifically (when they are deliberately bred) for utility in farming and forestry, which would tend to require a smaller, more “nimble” elephant that is also more tractable. A large war elephant would not have the temperament to move logs all day, and would be more difficult to restrain and would have a harder time navigating the dense forests of Asia. So on top of most of the big war elephants possibly having been all but wiped out in battles, those that were left were probably not bred back into the population due to their now-undesirable tendencies.
I’d bet I could have Asian war elephants that towered over even Savannah elephants within three or four generations again, if I tried.
Some links I found- haven’t played them yet so they’ll be a surprise to me as well.
http://firesigntheatre.com/media/audvid/sfi1.mp3
http://firesigntheatre.com/media/audvid/sfi7.mp3
http://firesigntheatre.com/media/audvid/sfi22.mp3
http://firesigntheatre.com/media/audvid/sfi23.mp3
http://firesigntheatre.com/media/audvid/sfi27.mp3
I'll enjoy checking those out.
Heh, my first thought was oliphants, as well!
I thought this was going to be en explanation for the total lack of a spine in the GOP.
Hannibal took Ibizan Hounds with him.
/irrelevant interjection
:)
Would you like one of my cyanide capsules?
And tell my wife I loved her.
Not sure about the following anecdotal story’s veracity, but here goes- attended a motivational seminar with Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, and Captain Gerald Coffey?/Coffee? who was a VN POW. Brian Tracy spoke on how an elephant is trained. In it’s youth, a large rope is attached to one of it’s legs. Try as it might, it cannot break free, tugging, pulling, sounding, etc. Over and over it tries. Day after day after day, until finally giving up. Then it is easy to restrain the animal with a rope for it has been conditioned to believe that it can never escape from it’s captivity as long as the rope is attached to it’s leg. In maturity, the elephant can easily escape captivity due to it’s enormous size and strength, but it does not do so for it has been convinced otherwise. Of course, the reason Brian Tracy tells the story, is to knock people out of their conditioned beliefs that keep them held in captivity by their own thoughts, which is akin to the rope, ever so small, tethered (likewise) to the large and powerful elephant.
Is she named Laura, by chance?
;D
Everyone?
Good points.
antelope freeway 1/64th mile
We have lived our lives in vain!!
Guys, look, that title will never sell. Now, Lurid Elephant Sex And Death In The African Savannah, THAT's got best-seller written all over it.
Scientists.
turning tail and running from smaller, weaker enemies because they made a shrill noise is the GOPe calling card
Excellent!
Thapsus was fought between Caesar and the Optimates, who opposed his dictatorship. The Optimates fled to Africa and Caesar followed them. The war elephants were in the Optimate army, which lost the battle. Caesar got some elephants to panic by raining arrows on them, after which the elephants trampled their own troops. They looked fearsome to infantry, but really didn’t add much to the Roman way of war.
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