The picture shows Denise and I with our new friend, Rambo. As you can see, Rambo is rather large weighing in at 4 tons.

He and his mate Rachel (in the background) are in a sanctuary for elephants that have been wounded. We met Rambo and Rachel at Zulu Nyala Reserve in South Africa.

I must say that I am envious of Rambo’s trunk. The trunk has no bones or joints. Instead, it is made of tens of thousands of individual muscle bundles. With his trunk, Rambo can:

• Uproot branches or lift objects weighing hundreds of pounds
• Pick up something as small as a seed or blade of grass
• Strip leaves from a branch
• Scratch an itch
• Throw dirt, mud, or water over his body
• Touch and comfort another elephant such as Rachel

Rambo can also suck gallons of water into his trunk in seconds and squirt the water into his mouth.

It might look weird, but I’d like a trunk. They seem very useful.