I love all animals, but one of my favorites is the elephant.

Couple of things you might not know about elephants:

When you see a herd of elephants, the leader of that family group is one of the females. When a male elephant is born, he sticks around with the family until he’s around 12 years old, then he heads off on his own. The female elephants will usually stay with the family herd their whole lives.

And even though elephants are the largest land mammal, they’re actually pretty fast – they can run up to 25 miles per hour (or about 40 kilometers per hour).

And they’re incredibly intelligent (maybe that’s why they put the females in charge!). Elephants are one of the few species to recognize themselves in a mirror. And they have really complex emotions and compassion. They mourn the death of their loved ones, much like we do as humans.

Today we’re going to hear from Ella, about the time she had an encounter with an elephant. For a while it was great – she felt like she was really connecting with this amazing creature. 

But suddenly things went very wrong.

If you’d like to contact Ella:

Instagram: @smella_fresh

Website: PlantBestie.com

This episode is sponsored by Storyworth, where your loved one’s memories are turned into a keepsake book. Save $10 on your first purchase at StoryWorth.com/WHAT.

This episode is also sponsored by BetterHelp online therapy – save 10% on your first month at BetterHelp.com/WHATWAS.

I know you like hearing stories, so you’ll want to check out the podcast called The Compulsive Storyteller at TheCompulsiveStoryteller.com.

Get the full transcript for this episode and ALL previous episodes in a single digital download:

WhatWasThatLike.com/transcripts

Want to discuss this episode and other interesting things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices