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Most of the time, the elephants get their breakfast delivery wherever we find them in the habitat. Sometimes that means they are out in the larger yards and other times they are nearer the barn; it’s generally up to them. When they’re close to the barn, it’s a good time to go ahead and get footwork done, since it’s convenient for everyone–and afterwards, the elephants can just go on about the business of the day without further interruption. Maia and Guillermina were getting ready for some foot trimming, since they had just finished up their meal in the smaller yards. There’s an automatically refilling water station close to where they were standing, and so they decided to occupy themselves with some morning levity.

Maia likes to splash herself from the troughs, and she has a quirky trait: she sometimes sprays water into her mouth and, instead of drinking it, lets it fall right out and onto the ground. This makes for a fun mud puddle at times, the size of which is determined by how “thirsty” she is at the moment. (She does drink normally most of the time, so no need to worry. Her teeth are in great condition and there are no issues with her mouth.) While the caregivers were setting up, Guille decided to stop by the trough and have a few sips of her own. You may notice that she puts her trunk in Maia’s mouth on a couple of occasions. She’s most likely trying to sense some sort of smell from her Jacobsen’s Organ, which is in the main nasal chamber. It produces a distinctive scent that puts off pheromones–just another way that elephants can communicate. Maia definitely didn’t mind, so the two of them shared a relaxed-but-silly moment together, which was likely followed by a nap for both of them.