Now seems like the time to tell Tumblr about Humphrey. While not a walrus, Humphrey was a sea elephant who was in love with our neighbour’s cow (as in land cow, goes moo, people drink their milk kind of cow). I’m ambivalent to the fae folk, but walrus also maybe more possible than you may think.
I was once late for school because there was a sea elephant in our driveway. He also ate some of my mum’s favourite flowers (not an ideal food group but he was nothing if not adventurous). Sometimes you could her him bellow for his lady love in the night. She was, by all accounts, utterly unimpressed by him but it did not diminish his ardour. There was a Humphrey phone tree in our village, so if people spotted him they would call Mrs A who would call Mrs B and Mrs C, and so on until everyone knew if Humphrey was in your garden (or on the road, or at the playground trying to get up the slide).
He was so popular that there is a statue of him in the main town.
🧬DNA sequencing has revealed that elephants belong in a superorder called Afrotheria—meet their closest relatives!
🐘Learn more at the Museum’s new exhibition The Secret World of Elephants. Discover new science about both ancient and modern elephants, see full-scale models of proboscideans, and more.
🦃Visiting the Museum this Thanksgiving? Best availability is on Monday and Tuesday of that week. Here are a few tips!