Growing Up with Little Gray

Elephants are amazing creatures. I read a lot about elephants while I was writing Mama’s Day with Little Gray. Here is some of the information I discovered:

Soon after a baby elephant is born, its mother helps it to walk. Baby elephants drink only milk for a year. Then they learn to eat grasses, berries, and leaves. The baby stays close to its mother as she leads the way to find food and water.

When the sun is hot, a mother elephant will stand beside her baby to shade it. As the sun moves across the sky, the mother moves as well so that the baby stays cool.

Mother elephants are smart. If a baby elephant finds itself too deep in a river, its mother will go downstream so her baby will float back to her. Elephants can stick their trunks out of the water to breathe.

Elephants love mud! They roll in it at least once a day. Mud protects an elephant’s skin from heat and bugs. Little elephants watch their mothers so they can learn how to churn up mud with their feet.

When elephant calves grow bigger, they can walk farther from their mother. If the baby calls, though, the mama comes running.

Elephants make many kinds of calls. They rumble, hum, bellow, trumpet, and even squeak. Much elephant talk is too low for humans to hear. Elephants can even sense sound as it travels through the ground. They can hear each other call from far, far away.