Elephants on the Edge by G. A. Bradshaw

Author:G. A. Bradshaw
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2014-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

10

Speaking in Tongues

As she approached his enclosure, her body stiffened and a cold sweat broke out. Massa would agitate and vocalize with his trunk swaying. It took every ounce of willpower to stop from just throwing the food and running. One day, Anna willed herself to stand still and kept eye contact with the approaching mountain. Suddenly, something happened. Anna began to cry, tears streaming down her cheeks and neck. The bull came to a standstill motionless in front of her and slowly reached out with his trunk. Anna reached through to touch it. Later, she recounted: “At that moment, it was as if the world melted. My fear disappeared and I opened my heart.” Massa was still regarded as someone to watch with care, but he gradually began to relax, and acted almost eager to touch and be touched through the fence. He started playing and pushed the huge rubber ball over to Anna in fun.

When Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that people see only what they are prepared to see, he was probably not imagining today’s virtual world of talking screens, fiber optic relationships, and Blackberry scribes. The degree to which technology has allowed sight to eclipse all other senses can be measured by a simple excursion to the country. We venture into the woods, and we alight to stand in the still; there is a sense of emptiness. Gradually, senses adjust from the din of honking horns and caroling mobiles and tune to the wild. We begin to notice light refracting down through treetop stairways and the startling flash of red as a woodpecker dashes by, the faint hollow staccato of an owl, cold flecks of water sprayed from the creek, the mustiness of fallen leaves, and the taste of salt as tongue passes over lip. Skin prickles, heart quickens, eyes widen, we no longer feel apart, and we begin to merge with the watchful sensuality of feral life.

Moments like these are few for the urban dweller. Most of the time it is the mind, not the body, that dominates and must deal with the challenges of everyday survival. Similar to the human body, animals are kept in place by strict rules of behavior—elephants live in zoos, circus rings, and Out of Africa, dogs belong on a leash, parrots sit in cages, bears are seen on Forest Service posters and Yellowstone Park postcards, turkeys are framed on holiday platters, and so forth, species by species. Violations of these boundaries are eyed suspiciously if tolerated at all. Tyke, the breakaway circus elephant, was gunned down, unleashed dogs are impounded, biting and screaming parrots are taken back to the pet store, garbage-rummaging bears are shot, and wild turkeys soiling patios are summarily dispensed. Humans who stray across conventional boundaries are also penalized. Hunters get licenses to shoot deer, but those who feed deer are prosecuted or jailed; and the general opinion was that the mauling death of Timothy Treadwell, the Grizzly Man, by his beloved bears, was just deserts for wrongful intimacy with a wild animal.

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