On occasion Rhinos find themselves described as ‘antisocial’. It would be disheartening if We thought these critiques were justified.
We are a busy species, eating to maintain our stature. We are left with little time for idle pursuits. For Us, it’s all about chewing.
For Rhinos it is not easy to chew and smile at the same time. The one activity must take precedence over the other.
We Rhinos transform over time. Sometimes it’s obvious, minute by minute, and other times it takes days or even a week. But whenever We examine the phenomenon, We aren’t who We were when We last took a peek.
It probably is the same thing for grapefruits and glaciers, but We can’t be expected to keep track of Everything. N’est-ce pas?
We leave that sort of surveillance to Nature.
Some Readers are confused about the differences between so-called Black and White Rhinos. There is virtually no difference whatever in our natural pigmentations. Scrubbed down, We are all grayish brown or brownish gray. Gorgeous.
Where We vary from one another is in the dirt We lavish on our skin, which is what determines our color. The colors of African soils vary, so our tonalities do too.
That dusty layer protects Us from both the sun and bugs, goshdarnem.
(See posts from 11-28-15 and 12-1-15 for related fascinating data.)
Tomorrow is your ‘Sleep Festival 2016’. YIR addresses the function today as We will be away tomorrow. Physically. Tiny vacation.
Rhinos can sleep anytime and virtually anywhere. We often challenge one another to do it, and We seldom fail to nap, at the very least. On the limb of a tree or on a Himalayan promontory, it makes no nevermind.
What makes it easy is that a doze does not impede our general regimen of activities, day or night. We just go along with ourselves, refocused on the Fragmentarily Perceptible. The inactivity can be very stimulating.
And relaxing. Even therapeutic.
RhinoTots do not toddle. When they are born, they are all ready to walk within a few hours. In the Wild, We cannot endure if We cannot get up and get out. That’s just the way it is. This fact accounts for the long pregnancy RhinoMoms experience; all that prep work takes place inside.
That is not to say that RhinoTots are particularly coordinated or graceful. Just so We’re clear on that. All those presentational skills are the result of time.
And Maternal Attention.
Rhinos are all talented tiptoers. It comes with the package. Each of our feet has three toes, but We mainly use the middle toes, which is slightly larger than the others. The two outside toes are good for balance and standing, but when We go into Action, that middle toe takes Charge.
Thus you see that although We are mighty and largish, when it comes to grace and precision, We Rhinos are on our toes.
Marvelous.
For more Toe Talk, see Oct. 23, 2014.
That’s right: Rhinos don’t sweat. Our body heat moderation is dealt with in other ways, the easiest to spot being Us in the mud. (See: 6-28-15) Mud not only protects our hides, but discourages insects and their kin. And mud cools Us off. Ditto rolling in dust.
The picture, though charming, is entirely fanciful; it has nothing to do with Facts. Why would We ever disguise our odor? The way We smell is what informs all our ranks of just what’s up with Us. That singular whiff is a major achievement for each and every Rhino. It is 77% of what qualifies Us as Masterpieces.
Downwind is where everybody wants to be. Ask anybody.
Back in Africa, We are the Black Rhinos. What We lack in size (We are about half the size of White Rhinos: 11-28-15), We make up in Pizzazz. All Rhinos have the same amount of RhinoHeart, so imagine it informing every cell in a Black Rhino; That’s right, there is a compression factor because We are smaller, so it makes Us that much more Dynamic! Whatever you can be full of, Black Rhinos are twice as full of it!
Shown is part of our secret formula. This is Us eating an Acacia bush. Note all the thorns? Right! We gobble these up, sorting them with our agile lips. Oh yes, our lips are specially tricky, shaped like a hook for selecting prime bits and pieces.We roam, nibbling as We go. Occasionally some grass, but mostly shrubbage. This diet makes Us feisty.
Who could ever get too much Feisty, right?
In the Wild, We Rhinos have to take care of ourselves when We feel poorly. We medicate, invariably with either diet or hydration, more or less. The Inner Rhino Medical Department knows what to do. So We just follow IRMD orders, and things usually realign themselves. Please recall: We don’t have other options.
Our system is not 100% foolproof, but then, what system is?
One thing that does recommend it is 50 million years of road testing.
Hello from Africa, where We White Rhinos share the continent with our cousins, the Black Rhinos. Just to clear up an obvious issue: We are actually all the same color of gray.
The term “white” comes from a foreign word meaning “wide”, since our mouths are flat in the front. This is a feature to accommodate our diet of grass. We chomp it off with our lips, not our teeth; this system works better since We don’t have front teeth.
We are the bigger of the two African family branches, weighing in at about the same bulk as our Indian cousins (see 8/17/15). Big, that’s Us.
A distinctive feature of our physique is the large hump of muscle at our shoulders. It helps Us raise our heads from the Graze Position. Big heads to go with a big body.
We like to think of ourselves as Intellectual, but then, who doesn’t?
Your Inner Rhino 