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Can’t Find the Three at Night

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)

  1. REPLY
    Sue says

    Just lovely. ❤️?❤️

  2. REPLY
    Cintia Abney says

    Nice to hear That Lady met them. Were the three on the move or they were all the time by the 4A?

    • REPLY
      sara says

      They 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!

  3. REPLY
    Lois Steinberg says

    Always wonderful. Thank you.

  4. REPLY
    Sunny says

    That Lady ? ! ???

  5. REPLY
    Sallie says

    Whew! 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!.

  6. REPLY
    Meredith Leonard says

    Is 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.

    • REPLY
      sara says

      Bambi is flourishing in most every way. She is a wonderful example of how sanctuary changes lives.

  7. REPLY
    Nannette Stone says

    Awe Ladybug, pumpkin how yummy. Good to hear she stayed close.

  8. REPLY
    John says

    Ok, so when are you guys going to write a book? The Elephant Diaries?

    • REPLY
      sara says

      Ha! 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!

  9. REPLY
    SHEILA says

    OH 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??

    • REPLY
      sara says

      Maia was doing just fine. She was across the creek in Yard 5 just happily hanging out.

  10. REPLY
    Nancy Shaw says

    I Loved Sallie’s review ( :

  11. REPLY
    Kenneth Newman says

    Where was Maia in all of this night game of hide and seek?

    • REPLY
      sara says

      She 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.

  12. REPLY
    Rachel says

    Always 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 ?

  13. REPLY
    Tammy says

    Oh 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 ?? ?? ? ??

  14. REPLY
    Julie says

    Love the pic! What a happy herd all traveling in the same direction together!

  15. REPLY
    Wim says

    The mysterious Elephants moves so hard to find the groove. Nice how they show or hide their habits
    Keeps you very busy I presume. ??

  16. REPLY
    Beji says

    So dedicated, so hopeful, so touching…

  17. REPLY
    Maureen Allen says

    We hang on every word, every photo! Thanks for making us feel so close to these marvelous fellow-creatures!

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