Truncated

Andy Seamans and Dawn Seamans-Shook
Sat, 30 Aug 2014 21:00:00 -0700
Lifestyle

This week, The Answer Man looks at elephants.

1. A bull elephant with a trail of oily liquid on the side of his head is probably in must. What is must?

2. Side preferences are common in the animal kingdom. Do elephants show a side preference in their trunk?
Updated: Sun Aug 31, 2014

This week, The Answer Man looks at elephants.

1. A bull elephant with a trail of oily liquid on the side of his head is probably in must. What is must?

2. Side preferences are common in the animal kingdom. Do elephants show a side preference in their trunk?

3. TRUE or FALSE: Elephant herds are normally led by a male elephant that is the oldest or largest of the herd.

4. Elephants in a zoo can produce as many as 60 boluses each day. What are elephant boluses?

5. TRUE or FALSE: Elephants love water and are good swimmers.

Answers

1. Must is a state or condition caused by raging hormones. Elephants in must can be aggressive and dangerous.

2. Yes. More than 90 percent of the time, an elephant will curl its trunk to a preferred side, depending on whether it is "right-trunked" or "left-trunked," to grab an object.

3. False. The herd is typically led by a female elephant, and all of the females in the herd are directly related to the matriarch.

4. Elephant boluses are dung balls.

5. True.