You give your rambunctious toddler a nice soapy bath, and what's the first thing he does? He goes out and stomps in the mud, of course.
It was no different this week for Samson, the 5-month-old African elephant at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
No sooner had keeper Marsha Zabarkes scrubbed him down with suds and a stiff brush and hosed him off than the busy 590-pound infant scampered off and immediately stepped in his mother's dung. Nice.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in Saturday's editions about Samson, the baby elephant at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, misspelled the name of the company that lent the zoo a portable X-ray machine. It is Eklin Medical Systems Inc.
The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.
Icky antics aside, the first elephant ever born in Baltimore is doing just fine at five months, his guardians say. Constant observation by his keepers and close medical scrutiny - including high-tech digital X-rays and monthly blood tests - have found no issues aside from a long bout of teething and a little sand in his stomach.
"He's doing really well, knock on wood," said Mike McClure, the zoo's general curator, who confesses he spends most of his time with Samson, his highest-profile charge. The tyke has doubled his birth weight and is taking well to his training. And he has begun subsonic vocal communications with Felix, his 7,200-pound mom.
"He's probably one of the best calves I've seen. Very inquisitive, not shy, not overly cautious," McClure said. "He seems very willing to explore things, and he's extremely cooperative. He's just a nice little elephant so far."
Dr. Ellen Bronson, the zoo's senior veterinarian, is just as delighted with Samson's progress. "He has been a very healthy calf," she said as the youngster wrapped his little trunk around a steel gate and gave it a vigorous round of very noisy yanks. "He's right on track with all his development. If anything, he's been ahead."
He could hardly be more closely scrutinized. Everything he does, everything that goes into him - or comes out - is carefully noted. He's adding two pounds a day, all from mother's milk, and he won't stop nursing for three to five years.
As with any growing infant, teething has been an issue. It seems as if Samson's been cutting his molars "for the majority of my adult life," McClure said with an air of resignation.
Teething began sooner than expected, Bronson said. "He's been putting everything in his mouth and chewing on it - Frisbees, orange cones, balls, any toys hanging around." Even sand.
"It's normal for them to eat dirt," Bronson said. But sand in the dirt tends to drop to the bottom of the elephants' gut and stay there. "If it gets to be excessive, it will become a problem."
