wonderful day on top of Zula’s hill. They spent time

napping in the woods and giving chase to the fourwheeler

when the caregiver came up with treats

and hay. All great fun. Tange and Zula normally

stay there for a couple of days and nights, so if

there are no elephants on the hill, the caregivers

have learned from experience that the Girls have

probably gone back to the barn to wait for their

night feed there. There have been a couple of times

that just the caregiver is on top of Zula’s hill with

no elephants in sight. When the caregiver finally

realizes that it’s just the caregiver and nobody

else, they return to the barn where Tange and Zula

are waiting patiently. So, this week, the caregiver

first checked the barn area for Tange and Zula—no

elephants in sight. But after about 20 minutes,

they came down from Zula’s Hill crashing through

the trees in anticipation of the dinner that awaited

them at the barn.

Flora, on the other hand, was taking flying lessons

this week. Enjoying the breeze, she would stand

and let the wind catch her ears. She closed her eyes

and just enjoyed the experience. She never left the

ground, but she did fall asleep a couple of times! It

was truly a wonderful sight. And this just in from

the African habitat! Tange and Zula are exploring a

new part of their habitat, near the Asian barn road!

They’ve been up there since Monday afternoon.

out of the habitat’s natural abundance of “found

objects.�?The caregivers have reported seeing one

particular huge tree branch all around the habitat,

and Monday on the ele-cam we saw Ronnie playing

with it and dragging it around with her.

Frieda seems very fond of the bamboo browse in the

Phase 1 yard. She is often seen wearing one, the

frond end perched on her head. Late one afternoon,

Frieda was sporting her bamboo-doo and Carol, who

was working nearby, remarked to a caregiver “Have

you seen Frieda’s new hat?�?—just as Frieda picked

up a second huge bamboo frond to place atop the

first.

With the work going on in the Phase 2 barn, Scott

has been over at the Quarantine facility almost

daily, much to the Threesome’s delight. Tuesday

morning he drove the dump wagon through the

Phase 1 yard gate to go up the hill and Billie and

Frieda squeaked and squealed while Lizzie, who was

halfway down the yard, ran up to join the fun. All

that could be heard was multiple trumpets, squeaks

and�?“You girls are so silly!�?/P>

As the Threesome are enjoying their temporary

quarters in Phase 1 barn and yard, and Deb and

Ronnie spend more time hidden in the trees or

grazing in the lush grass of the very back pastures,

ele-cam viewers have not seen as much of the ladies

on camera lately. But we have become quite the

gathering place for wild turkeys! There are 4 large

Tom turkeys who visit the upper pond area nearly

every evening. They seem very relaxed, and just

strut around in their little bachelor group doing

what they do. So, when the elephants are occupying

places the cameras don’t reach, occasionally viewers

are treated to glimpses of these gregarious birds

as they go about their evening routines, wandering

across the pasture. One thing we have learned,

however, is that they seem to be able to hear the

faint motor sound of the camera atop the pole.

Sometimes if they are not intent on their feeding,

one will pick up his head, cock it back and forth,

then set off at a funny looking, wobbly fast walk.

The other three are in fast pursuit. We can scan and

follow them until they disappear into the edge of

the woods.

their way back to the lake, spending their days

grazing in Right Field.

Tarra continues to make her trips back to the barn

to visit with Dulary and Misty. This afternoon, their

caregiver watched as Tarra tried very hard to get

Dulary to play with her. It has been a very long

time since Tarra has had a friend that can match

her energy level while playing. When Dulary joined

our family, Tarra once again had a friend that would

and could play with the same intensity as she.

Today, Tarra seemed to be looking for such play time

with Dulary, but Dulary, who had not yet taken her

afternoon nap, was just too sleepy to oblige. She

tried to muster the energy by placing her trunk on

Tarra’s back as Tarra backed up making her usual

coos and barking noises. When Dulary didn’t respond

with the usual vigor that she normally did, Tarra

moved forward and backed up again with a little

more effort this time, swinging her tail in Dulary’s

face and talking a little bit more than the first

time. This continued for awhile until Tarra got the

hint and decided to instead let Dulary use her as

a scratching post. After her afternoon visit, Tarra

headed back to the lake for the evening. Misty spent

this time next to Delhi’s grave, quiet and reflective.

Sissy and Winkie have moved further down the

pipeline into an area full of Sweet gum shoots and

fresh grasses. They have remained light and mellow

all week.