Mac is still not very well but is still e-mailing strong. In this month’s Globetrotter e-newsletter, he writes about animals.

Just read in todays Washington Post about the 12,000 elephants in Kruger National Park, South Africa. The park is enormous. I had written in my notes that it was as large as Texas (I always exaggerate) but paper says nearly as large as New Jersey. I spent several wonderful days there. On back of picture postcard I wrote Kruger Park, South Africa 12 Nov 1988 : I have seen zimbas (lions), Oliphants (elephants) and mosquitoes. The Park is bigger than some countries. We get up at 5AM tomorrow to look for more oliphants. In my notes I wrote: a baby elephant weighs 50 lbs at birth and is pink the first day so it is possible to see a pink elephant. It starts turning grey the second day. It is also possible to see a drunken elephant; they are fond of Marula fruit berry which has some alcohol content that can make them tipsy. I am starting a local chapter of AA (alcohol anonymous) and am trying to get a friend of mine who is a AA member to talk to them. They are 7500 of them (now 12,00) (all drunk.)

Our guide says that a baby giraffe is born landing on it feet and can immediately run 40 miles an hour (according to the guide) to catch up with its mother. Rhinoceros have very good hearing but poor eye sight. Many were wearing glasses. The paper says that elephants often live to be 60 years old but that they are not eligible to come to the Old Soldiers Home. They play, they mourn, and they eat. They eat more than 300 pounds of leaves, bark and grass a day. “Elephants often look directly into the eyes of humans and flap their giant ears.” The paper says they may have to cull (kill) some so there is space and food for other animals in the Park.

I met in South Africa a young American whose father was a friend of the head man at Kruger and staying with him. The American was getting a degree in ecology or something. They told me they were culling elephants then. For same reason I was cross and said in Kenya when I was there they were short of elephants because of drought and couldn’t they mail some to Kenya. They said this was not practical (postage too high.) They said I did not see the whole picture and to keep my mouth shut about the culling. Now I find they had been culling (killing) more than 14,000 of its elephants between 1967 and 1994 until an animal rights groups demanded a moratorium.

In Kenya I had stayed at Salt Lick Lodge built up on stilts so that elephants and other animals could walk underneath. There was a skull of an elephant where you deposited your room key. Before retiring each night you told them at the desk which animals you wanted to be awakened to see if they came to the water hole nearby. I put down, “Everything but mosquitoes.” In the middle of the night someone was knocking at my door and shouting elephants! Groggy with sleep I did not know where I was and was wondering why someone was at my door hollering “Elephants.” At Alddo Game Reserve (also in South Africa, smaller than The Kruger and the elephants are also smaller) they used to feed the elephants citrus fruit and apples at 4.30 pm. There is a travel book called Elephants Arrive at Half Past Four, but they have quit doing this as they want the elephants to take care of themselves so they now issue them food stamps. I love elephants.

I read in National Geographic 2000 (I am a little behind in my reading.) My Father used to be a butcher. One day he backed into the meat grinder and he got a little behind in his work. Boom, boom. Where did vaudeville go? Back to Nat Geographic and the Internet. The Australian Platypus once swam with dinosaurs (I did not know that dinosaurs could swim.) The Platypus which I think is only found in Australia is the strangest looking animal I have ever seen. It seems to have the parts of many different animals thrown into one body and it looks like a fake animal.

I read on internet that a platypus is a semi aquatic egg-laying animal. It is sometimes called a duckbill. The duckbill looks like someone put it on the animal as a joke and one person tried to pull the bill off and found it was real.

It is the most primitive group of living manuals. The head, trunk and tail of the platypus are broad and flattened and covered with thick brown fur. The muzzle is shaped like a ducks bill (oh I already said that) and is soft and rubbery. It contains ridges used for crushing food the animal has no teeth. The heel of the male bears a hollow spur connected to a poison secreting gland. (Against enemies.) This is more than you want to know about the platypus but it is one of the most fascinating animals that has gotten to meet me.

I met an Australian lady on a bus in Australia that said a Joey (baby kangaroo) knocked on her door one day. She let him in and he jumped onto her bed and took a nap. He then let her know he wanted out. Each day for about a month there would be this knock on her door and he would hop up on her bed and she finally got a blanket to cover him. Then one day he did not appear and never did again. She grew to love the little animal and often wondered what happened to him. She wondered if he had been an orphan. Enuff about animals. Mac

If you would like to get in touch with Mac, he is happy to correspond by e-mail when he is well. His e-mail address is: macsan400@yahoo.com