"I'm not so sure other animals don't make organized attempts to help others as they certainly seem to be a lot more intelligent and sophisticated than we have assumed."

We have a deck with glass panels. There's a bird feeder outside my window, over the deck.

Every other week or so, a bird -- generally a fledgeling, who hasn't learned yet -- flies into the glass and knocks themselves silly.

When that happens, I go out, pick up the poor thing, and set it on the railing, so that when it comes to, it won't immediately fly into the glass again.

The funny thing is when a semi-conscious bird is sitting there, other birds will come up and sit with it -- they never sit on the deck railing otherwise. It isn't just relatives; it's often birds of different species.

It's probably anthropomorphic to think so, but I like to think they're keeping the dazed bird company until it can fly again.

:::: Jan Steinman, Communication Steward, EcoReality http://www.EcoReality.org ::::

ET

I stand saddened and ashamed of my species. That's a masterful piece of writing, and I had no idea of what the elephant extermination is destroying.

About 40 years ago an oil operator named Bill Kilroy bought an elephant for his ranch in Brookshire. He was arich Republican, but this was in the early 60's, pre Nixon presidency or the "southern strategy" that enshrined Republican racism. My father would take us out to visit a lot. Bill Kilroy was given two more babies by other rich Pachyderms, and he hired an elephant trainer. I don't know what ever happened to the elephants, but the trainer was arrested for child molesting.

William S. Bill Kilroy was a very nice man and a great operator, a big buddy of Bob Mosbacher's. Ran a big drilling fund and died about 10 years ago. He operated a lot of wells, too. I'm glad I knew him.
Bob Ebersole