for the 5 p.m. feed for the first time this season.

This may not seem like a big deal, but Shirley

enjoys spending time outside when the rest of

us are under way too many layers of clothes and

smaller Bunny begins to shiver. It’s not just Shirley

though, because even when Bunny appears to be

cold, sometimes she is committed to staying where

she is. They come in on the cold nights, but keep

their caregivers up quite late on those occasions

waiting until the wee hours of the morning for

the elephants to come inside. This week, Shirley

and Bunny began their trek back to the barn at an

earlier hour and much to our surprise, came into

the barn just in time for dinner. It’s nice that the

ladies are adjusting to the new season and dropping

temperatures, and are readjusting their schedule

to include coming inside the barn at night after

spending their evenings under the stars for months.

And Bunny also seems to agree with Winkie when it

comes to the blankets. She now gets one in her stall

that she throws on top of her head after her and

Shirley’s nightly celebration of trumpets, rumbles

and squeaks that accompany their arrival to the

barn.

exploration of his habitat—around the lower yard

and then up the hill south of his barn. Caregivers

have been introducing the concept of play, jogging

around Ned’s yard, encouraging him to explore

and enjoy his new surroundings. Ned enjoys treats

spread throughout his yard and an occasional

outdoor meal. The other day, he glided around his

yard (his movement is so graceful) with a particular

ear of corn, and then returned to pick up the feed

bucket and place it in an optimum spot from where

he could watch the dogs, who were mostly keeping a

respectful distance! Ned’s caregivers report that Ned

figured out exactly what to do with his shavings and

how useful they can be. He threw them all over his

belly and up on to his back!! Hooray for Ned, these

small steps of an enriched life are miracles and no

less than he deserves.

feed the ladies at 5p.m., a caregiver stopped to

enjoy the antics of a very unserious Minnie. In the

fading daylight, she was sitting near a fence, on her

ample rump, and had in her possession a large tree

branch. First, she twirled it above her head roundand-

round. She dropped it, then picked it up to

swing it back and forth from left to right, touching

her sides with each pass. She finished with a lovely

toss into the air, and the branch bounced off her

back to end the playing. Well, she has her priorities

straight�?food was on its way to her tummy, so she

followed the 4-wheeler out into the habitat for her

dinner.

It has been extra chilly in the mornings at the QBarn

facility (thanks to our valley). The girls are a

bit slower leaving the toasty barn some mornings,

but once they see the sunshine, everyone heads out

for the day. Deb and Ron have been full of energy

lately and acting very playful on the way out to

breakfast in the pasture. Ronnie even out-paced Deb

one morning, holding her ears out, shaking her head

back and forth as she nearly pranced (taking lessons

from Andy the beagle, no doubt!) out to get her

morning meal. Debbie usually reserves her playful

behavior for the afternoon feeding, determined to

stay put as long as she can before she realizes she

needs to follow the caregiver just a bit further away

Thursday, the African girls were at an area

of the habitat where a lucky documentary

film crew was able to film Tange, Zula and

Flora because they were in an area easily

viewed from the road into Asia. Since the

documentary is about Flora’s life, it was a rare

treat for the filmmaker to be able to capture

Flora interacting with Tange, Zula and her

caregivers. The filmmaker was told she would

not be allowed to film in the Africa habitat,

and therefore not be allowed to film Flora, but

to everyone’s surprise, all three Africans were

in the area easily seen from the access road

into Asia. The filmmaker could not believe

her good fortune. Tange and Zula enjoyed all

the hay and extra goodies that were provided,

and Tange spent most of the filming with her

hay groceries tucked under one tusk. Flora

ate her hay peacefully as the caregivers were

interviewed with Flora in the background,

but just as the crew decided, “just one more

shot of Flora,�?a small pebble sailed over our

heads—clearly letting us know the filming was

over!

from Los Angeles where she spoke before the

LA City Council, which is discussing the future

of Billy, the only elephant remaining at the Los

Angeles Zoo. Here is an article on Billy and the

zoo, including quotes from Joyce Poole:

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/

Tusk-Tusk-Elephant-Expert-Scolds-LA-Zoo.html

administrative offices will be closed Thursday

and Friday, November 27 and 28.

so Ronnie could enjoy her own meal.

The Threesome are still enjoying the expanse of their

Pond Yard. Liz can often be seen taking naps on the

bank above the pond, the hillside of Pond Yard, or

right in the middle of the yard�?always with Frieda

standing over her to keep watch. Billie joins them

most of the time, but if she is feeling a bit unsure

of the proximity of Deb, Ron, Min and Lottie, she

enjoys some quiet time in the elevated area among

the trees south of the barn. She gets hay delivered

regularly, of course. It was while Billie was in this

area that she and Ned got a good look at each

other. There was a corral and some distance between

them, but Billie reached in Ned’s direction. He stood

completely still and just stared at Billie-Sue. The

good thing is that Billie did not run away.

girls have the option to go into the barn—most of

the time they come into the barn, eat the hay that

has been put out for them, and then they leave

again. It’s great to see that they enjoy the cold

evenings and decide to stay outside more and more.

But now the nights are getting below freezing, and

even for the African girls, this is getting a bit too

chilly to stay outside, so with the freezing nights

the girls spend their nights in the warm barn.

The caregivers attempt to bring the habitat into the

barn... well at least some of the trees. Whole trees

that the girls have pushed down, eaten the top off

and then left, are cut down and dragged back into

the barn for them to finish off. In the morning, all

that is left of a whole tree are bits and pieces. If

the trees happen to be pine, the whole barn has

this wonderful pine tree smell. The African girls are

very lucky, as the morning sun heats up the barn

area very quickly. No time to wait; as soon as the

caregiver arrives at the barn, the doors are opened

and out everybody goes. The last couple of mornings

the girls seemed to be in a rush, as all elephants

run behind the 4-wheeler ready to dig into their

breakfast, ready to start another day in paradise.