Category Archives: Rhino Family

Wrapping Us Up!

by in Living Rhinos Today, Rhino Nifty | Leave a comment

Given how big We are, it is no surprise that We have a lot of Skin. All over Us, bunches of skin. We family members from Central Asia, as big as any, have particularly exotic packaging, as shown here.
IR SKIN

Parts of Us are bumply, other parts are smooth. The part you can’t see is the tender parts in the great folds of our hides. Not all the skin is the same thickness or texture. It is, however, just skin, however Sumptuous to behold. If asked, please remind people; it is not armor, whatever they may have heard.

We are closely related to the Rhinos of Java, who are more ancient cousins than We are. However, though the folding pattern of them is like the picture, the bumply parts are not. No way to explain it, any more than you could explain the shape of your eyebrows. Just the way Nature likes it, for the time being. We get bumples or not, roll of the dice.

We don’t pretend to take credit for how astounding We are; it is not something any of Us planned. All our design features come from Nature, which is plenty good enough for Us.

Chompers

by in Living Rhinos Today, R Body Beautiful | 2 Comments

Fangs
What is missing from this picture? You’re right: a Dentist! That is because in the Wild there is no medical attention on call. We use all natural meds in the Wild. Or hope that Time will mend Us. We have to be very careful with the teeth We get; We only get one set.

We have mighty teeth, usually about 26 or 27 or so, depending on the family in question. We do our nipping with our lips, so the main job of our teeth is mashing up vegetables in one form or another, all very fibrous. Hooray for oral hygiene, that’s what We say.

Here with Us are three friendly Oxpeckers, backing Us up and keeping Us up to date. They offer many opinions, but then again, they have no teeth at all.

Water with Extras!

by in Living Rhinos Today, R Mindset | 2 Comments

Big Slurp

We see that you like your water all pure and crystalline and chilly. Not We Rhinos. We prefer it luke warm, and filled with bits of stuff- plant, animal, mineral, whatever’s around. It tastes a lot better, at least We thing so, more hefty. More like your idea of tea: Water with Personality. And the great part is it is never the same from slurp to slurp. Always a surprise. Life in the Wild has a lot to recommend it, that much is certain.

Facts of Life in the Wild

by in Living Rhinos Today, R Mindset, R Outlook | 2 Comments

In the Wild no Rhino dies of Old Age. We live each day upbeat, perfectly aware that our individual part of the project may be done at any time. We don’t let that idea make us blue. But We don’t forget it either.

Klee Dragons bright

The trickiest part of the Rhino’s span is Adolescence, the time when We strike out into the world, full of Spunk and unrestrained by Experience. That said, any of Us can go at any time of life, and the dragons We face may arrive at any moment.

These dragons are Famine, Disease, Competition, Confrontation, and Greed. These are not the Deadly Sins, these are the Facts of Life- in the Wild. We do not fret over the matter; We’d get depressed. We strut along, enjoying the time We are given. “Tra la la”, that’s what We say. Feel free to quote Us.

Pillow Talk

by in Living Rhinos Today, R Mindset, R Outlook | Leave a comment

Lullaby and GdNight

In the Wild, nobody really sleeps the way you all seem to do. If We allow our sensors to shut off completely, We wake up with some strange critter chewing our ankles. Or worse. This is especially true for those of Us that just plop down on the ground at naptime. So although We may appear to be comatose, We are just reinvigorating ourselves for the next round of activity, most likely chewing. And cogitating.

We mostly sleep when We feel like it, both day and night. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes standing.

Babies sleep soundly, but they are relying on Mom to confront any problems. Moms know how to do that. Moms know everything.

Hickory Dickory

by in Living Rhinos Today, R Body Beautiful, R Mindset, R Outlook | 2 Comments

The ticking of a watch may be comforting to you, but its regularity sometimes gets on our nerves. We prefer the natural idea of the sundial. We are not interested in the hour anyway, and the sundial is relating to the sun, so We like that. We are mostly on duty to one degree or another 24/7, even when asleep. No great reason to be particular about one hour or another.

Sundial 11-6

For Us, the issue is simple; is the sun up yet or not? Day or night dictate which playmates will be active in the Wild. Many critters only get going at night or by day. Not We. We are ready to chew and make profound discoveries, around the clock… as it were.

For those of you who are wondering, our model here is a Sumatran Rhino, which explains the hairiness. There is a long tradition of hairiness among Us Rhinos, though only one family is embodying that distinction at present. Who knows what’s on its way? Next year We may all be awash in fuzz, striped or spotted. Nature has a unique sense of humor; why fight it?

Every little breeze…

by in Living Rhinos Today, R Body Beautiful | 4 Comments

Sound in the WildIn the Wild there is a non-stop symphony of sound. The orchestration shifts with the hour, the season, the weather, plus the resident population. There are infinite sources for sound, noise, music, etc., all of them engaging our attention.

We mention this because We Rhinos have extraordinary hearing, as nifty as our sense of scent. Amazing.

Here sits the happy Rhino, chewing and listening (and sniffing). What grabs her attention?, you ask. Answer: Silence. Silence is Nature’s five-star Alarm.

What will she do? She will figure out what caused the Silence. One thing to recall is that she is probably upwind of the problem, or she would have smelled the problem longsince.

Will she run away, as most sensible creatures would, or does she investigate to reestablish local serenity? Who can tell? The girl has options…