Pachyderm Picassos

One of the things that motivates me about the vegan lifestyle is the mysterious nature of animals -- how they are so smart in so many ways; how they have a purposeful place in God's creation that goes beyond being food for the human species. I'm reminded of the stories of how so many wild animals fled the coastal areas for higher ground -- and remained alive -- prior to the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004. They sensed danger when humans didn't; many lives might have been saved if humans had been more sensitive to what the animals were saying by their actions. Or consider the recently documented experiments using dogs to detect human cancer. Their powerful noses can detect something on or beneath human skin that we can't sense.

This video of Burmese elephants that paint pictures is an example of the brain power of animals. Granted, these elephants were likely trained to paint the same picture over and over as a tourist attraction -- they probably can't create new pictures every time they come to the easel. But still, this is a remarkable example of an animal's skill. I'm not crazy about the idea of exploiting animals for entertainment -- but all that aside, just enjoy this creature's skill with the brush: