I have finally tired of CNN (although I confess to being riveted by King Abdullah II’s speech before Congress today) and have moved on to Animal Planet while I clean out cupboards and begin packing.  Last night I watched a whole documentary on elephants.  Perhaps you would like to know a few facts???  Mark just fell asleep at 2:00 this morning (after work) when I was trying to tell him my newfound learnings:

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* An elephant can hold 9 liters of water in its trunk at a time.  This is more than three times the amount of liquid humans drink in a day.

* In 5 minutes, an elephant can drink a whole bathtub full of water.

* The elephant loses 5 liters of water through its skin every hour of the day.

* There are special vibration sensors in the elephant’s feet and trunk.

* Speaking of the trunk, there are more than 100,000 muscles in the elephant trunk and it is the most versatile appendage in all of mammalia, acting as a nose, arm, and hand.

* Baby elephants drink 25 liters of milk from their mother every day.

* Baby elephants eat other elephants’ poop (yes I said the word poop!) in order to jumpstart its digestive system.

Aren’t you fascinated?  I know I was.  Tonight:  Sloths.  I’ve already learned that the only time a sloth is in a hurry is when it has to go….poop!  Ha.  The word again.

Stay tuned!