Lady was recently by the barn at night feed, and the others were nowhere to be seen. As Mara, Rana, and Bambi tend to show up at the barn at night, we called for them to see if anyone answered. Usually, Bambi will respond with her deep rumbles if they are near, which lets us know they are on their way.
Nobody answered that evening, so we got their evening meal together. When they still hadn’t shown up, we called again. Bambi rumbled in response, but it sounded far away, so we got on the four-wheelers and started looking for them. We would periodically stop, turn off the four-wheelers, listen, and call again. That night, there were no answering sounds once we started driving through the habitat. We stopped several times and, still, nobody responded. Kat and Scott were each on their own four-wheelers (with radios), so they split up. After more discussion and more exploration, we decided to venture out again in different directions and pretty quickly found them at the 4A trough.
Mara, Rana, and Bambi all had a party when we showed up. If only they had started the party earlier, we could’ve found them sooner! Mara ate well, but because we were getting fresh produce the next morning, we had extra apples and carrots. We decided to scatter them in the yard so Rana and Bambi could walk around and look for them. We like to encourage foraging behavior because it’s good for them, mentally and physically.
As we started tossing food, Lady popped up on her side of the fence. We gave her hay earlier, but she had finished her hay and seemed to be checking to see what was happening on the Yard 4 side of their common fence. Rana had already wandered off searching for random carrots and apples. Lady and Mara acknowledged each other through the fence. Lady showed up just in time, as we still had around 20 apples (1/3 of a bucket) left, which we distributed on Lady’s side of the fence. We also had a quarter of a pumpkin remaining, and pumpkin is one of Lady’s favorite foods – so she was pleased with that offering.
Everyone ended up hanging out pretty close together as we left. Lady doesn’t always choose to be around others, but she seemed to be in an engaging mood and was interested in being around them, which we are delighted to encourage. It’s even better when we can encourage it and give her pumpkin at the same time!
Photo of Bambi, Mara, and Rana (front to back).
Comments(22) 























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Sue says
February 23, 2021 at 1:05 pmJust lovely. ❤️?❤️
Cintia Abney says
February 23, 2021 at 1:07 pmNice to hear That Lady met them. Were the three on the move or they were all the time by the 4A?
sara says
February 23, 2021 at 2:00 pmThey may have been in the same place for a while, since Scott and Kat didn’t hear them as they drove around the property. It seems they may have just wanted to play a bit of hide and seek!
Lois Steinberg says
February 23, 2021 at 1:14 pmAlways wonderful. Thank you.
Sunny says
February 23, 2021 at 1:17 pmThat Lady ? ! ???
Sallie says
February 23, 2021 at 1:27 pmWhew! Those 3 haughty, naughty girls! They need coal miner lights on so you can track ‘em! Bet they pull this off again! Catering delivery at night! Fun! Well, for them – and Lady!.
Meredith Leonard says
February 23, 2021 at 1:39 pmIs it my imagination, or is Bambi’s skin looking very healthy? She looks like she has been happy here for a long time. Lovely to see.
sara says
February 23, 2021 at 1:54 pmBambi is flourishing in most every way. She is a wonderful example of how sanctuary changes lives.
Nannette Stone says
February 23, 2021 at 1:47 pmAwe Ladybug, pumpkin how yummy. Good to hear she stayed close.
John says
February 23, 2021 at 2:01 pmOk, so when are you guys going to write a book? The Elephant Diaries?
sara says
February 23, 2021 at 3:43 pmHa! I think that might be quite a ways off. As you know, we are totally focused right now on getting as many elephants into sanctuary as possible and that takes up ALL of our time. You never know – maybe one day!
SHEILA says
February 23, 2021 at 2:05 pmOH THOSE LADIES JUST HIDING OUT HAVING A GOOD TIME MAYBE HAVING A WATER SPRAY GAME‼️??. IM SO HAPPY LIL? LADY CAME TO SHARE IN HE APPLES ?AND ?PUMPKIN!! THIS IS A GREAT ENCOURAGER FOR HER! SHE SEEMS TO KNOW MARA IS UNWELL! VERY AWESOME SHE GREETED MARA! SO GLAD THE LADIES R WELCOMING WITH LADY EVEN THO SHES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FENCE! WONDER WHERE MAIA WAS?? DID MAIA GET TREATS?? MAIA IS SO ALONE I REALIZE BY CHOICE BUT I SURE WANT HER TO GET SEEK OUT THE ????LADIES MORE??
sara says
February 23, 2021 at 3:55 pmMaia was doing just fine. She was across the creek in Yard 5 just happily hanging out.
Nancy Shaw says
February 23, 2021 at 2:05 pmI Loved Sallie’s review ( :
Kenneth Newman says
February 23, 2021 at 2:06 pmWhere was Maia in all of this night game of hide and seek?
sara says
February 23, 2021 at 3:56 pmShe was across the creek in Yard 5, doing her own thing. She may not have felt like partying at the time, but she was perfectly content.
Rachel says
February 23, 2021 at 2:17 pmAlways great to hear about Lady’s slow steps towards emotional healing and trusting other elephants. One small step at a time does wonders in the long run – I happen to personally know that one step at a time towards healing can dramatically change a damaged soul. We all need patience with Lady’s steps towards trusting other elephants, I know, but I’m cheering for every small step she takes. And I love that the three amigos are really hitting it off – what a beautiful, unfolding story that is SANCTUARY ?
Tammy says
February 23, 2021 at 2:30 pmOh how fun exploring at night with your best friends on top of that you get a late night snack delivery from the best humans anywhere sounds like a great time to me ?? ?? ? ??
Julie says
February 23, 2021 at 2:43 pmLove the pic! What a happy herd all traveling in the same direction together!
Wim says
February 23, 2021 at 5:02 pmThe mysterious Elephants moves so hard to find the groove. Nice how they show or hide their habits
Keeps you very busy I presume. ??
Beji says
February 23, 2021 at 5:20 pmSo dedicated, so hopeful, so touching…
Maureen Allen says
February 24, 2021 at 11:19 amWe hang on every word, every photo! Thanks for making us feel so close to these marvelous fellow-creatures!
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