Animal Crackers

They may weigh a helluva lot more than lemmings do, but apparently elephants tend to behave pretty much the same way--as evidenced by the recent escapades of a herd in Seoul, South Korea. The six elephants were being paraded outside their enclosure at the Seoul Children's Grand Park when one was startled and bolted, according to a zoo official. Five more followed "because they have the tendency to do that," the official told MSNBC. The pachyderm posse roamed the streets of the South Korean capital freely (unlike their counterparts in the north) for hours--even visiting a local restaurant--but were apprehended before reaching cliff's edge. Five were herded back to their enclosure, while one was "briefly detained at a police station." (I can only assume that was the ringleader). No word if they got a confession out of him.
And while we're on the topic of strange animal stories: here's a tip for you pet owners out there. When you enter a contest, don't use your pet's name. That's what Vancouver carpenter Kevin Strybos did, and he paid $500 for his frivolousness. That's how much he would have won had he been able to cash the winning check in the drawing at a local gas station. But since it was made out to his dog, "Mr. Jengels," his bank refused to cash it. And the gas station owner refused to write another in his name. (In Strybos's albeit meager defense, he claims he'd used the name of his miniature dachsund-pinscher cross in the drawing to avoid telemarketers. So, hey, on the bright side, at least he won't have to worry about being bothered by telemarketers--just reporters).
More on my life later.. Suffice it to say, no elephants have wandered into my neighborhood (though there was a parade of pachyderms up the streets of Manhattan one night in late March, en route to Madison Square Garden for the annual Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus show). And I don't have any pets, or winning raffle tickets (unfortunately).