Elephants snuck in, got drunk off rice beer, and uprooted utility poles   Thursday, October 25th, 2007

These are beautiful views of the village of Shillong.  Aren't they scrumptious?  So much GREEN!  Unfortunately for villagers, though, the closeness of nature to mankind leads to some very odd clashes.

 

This is one of the strangest things I think I've ever come across, and I have no idea what to make of it.  I'm dumbfounded.

In northeast India, six wild Asiatic elephants snuck into a village looking for food.  They found rice beer, which is fermented an kept in plastic and tin drums in some farmers' huts.

Sunil Kumar, a state official, told the AP that the elephants got drunk, and uprooted a utility pole that supplies power to the village of Shillong, in Meghalaya.  In doing so, they electrocuted themselves.

The Asian elephant though, also has positive outcomes with mankind:  they've been tamed and worked with for people for over 4,000 years.  That blog we posted last month in Animal Lovers Corner about elephant art - those pics were painted by Asian elephants!

In the state of Meghalaya, there are Subtropical Forests containing more than 110 known mammal species.  These include the tiger, clouded leopard, wild dog, Malayan sun bear, sloth bear, smooth-coated otter, and of course, the Asian elephant.

Could you imagine waking up to one of those wild thangs wandering into your neighborhood?

   

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