Them thar scary aminals.

So I finally figured out my costume.

Tippy Hedron from The Birds. Ain't I cute? Too bad you can't see my face; I looked much more shocked than the lovely Tippy. Unfortunately, I lost the bird that was on my wig half way through the night. But at least he's flying free, pecking the eyes out of someone else. (they grow up so fast!)

I'm not really afraid of bird mutiny. A flock of seagull pecking at me is frightening but less likely to happen. There are tons of other kinds of groups of animals that I find much more frightening. Elephants are the first that come to mind. I've been doing some light research about the plight of elephants since last week when I saw some old footage (When Animals Attack! ...thanks Fox network...) of an elephant killing her trainer at a Hawaiian circus. It's shocking and horrifying for some many different reasons. These incredibly emotional creature have a great capacity to love and to rage. (You can blame the rage on us wacky human, pouching, torturing and killing them... an elephant really never forgets.) Sure, you mess with a baby, Mama is gonna whoop your ass. But it's more than that. Now and for the last decade or so, elephants have been terrorizing people. They have been found to be more aggressive and even attack without any provocation, crushing villages to the ground in the middle of the night. Some researchers have stated that this new generation of elephants are the product of our mistreatment and that they suffer from a kind of PTSD. There is a whole generation of kids subjected to watching their parents and families poached, hunted, tortured, kidnapped and killed. After this trauma, they are troubled and act out, especially where humans are involved.

Elephant crushing, a way of training wild elephant for preforming, has been condemned by dozens of organization. Poaching, although still going on, has been reduced since the 80's and early 90's due to strict patrol and tougher laws. But it's probably too little too late. Check out the links for more on these amazing creatures.

-http://ngccommunity.nationalgeographic.com/ngcblogs/
explorer/elephant/
-http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/02/16/
1140064206413.html
-http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/unforgettable/
emotions.html

Articles about scary-ass birds

• Barbie Runs for Her Life From The Birds
• Woman Savaged By Swooping Gull
• Chicago residents seek to avoid dive-bombing birds