What is all this fuss about rare and endangered plants? They are there, they aren't extinct, they were there before we got here and they will probably still be there when the human race has been long gone.

After all, they need very little rain or care, seem to like abuse, and have to be burned every decade or so in order to reproduce. What could we do to harm them?

What we really should be worrying about are El Dorado County's elephants!

As far as I can tell, 150 years ago they were quite common in our county and now they are gone, apparently just vanishing in the night.

Think about it, when was the last time you saw one outside of a zoo, circus or the grand opening of a car dealership?

You may see deer, rabbits, foxes, turkeys or even an occasional mountain lion in your yard, but what about an elephant?

No one has even reported one wandering across their property in the last century!

Nearly everyone who crossed the plains to California during the great migration west reported to the folks back home that they "had seen the elephant."

This statement shows up in numerous letters, journals and newspaper stories of that era. Since everyone who came here, no matter what route they took, saw at least one, there must have been huge herds of them. Those were honest people, so you know they wouldn't lie about something so important and spectacular.

So, where are the elephants? Where did the, go?

I find it hard to believe that the first settlers in El Dorado County could have destroyed huge herds of elephants without there being something in the press commenting about it.

Try as we might, we were unable to completely wipe out the buffalo and everyone read about the buffalo hunters, they are in every history book.

Why didn't we read about the elephant hunters? Was there some conspiracy between the hunters and the press to cover up this story of mass destruction?

Was there an "Elephant Gate"?

I think the officials of El Dorado County should immediately appoint the El Dorado County Elephant Commission to look into this matter.

This is obviously a serious issue that needs our immediate attention before it is too late.

We must not let the Elephants follow in the footsteps of the now extinct California jaguar and our state symbol, the California grizzly bear.

Deer hunters have often reported hearing strange noises while deep in the woods. That means that there is a real possibility that there may be a few elephants left, hiding somewhere in the rural areas of our county and they need to be found and protected before they disappear completely.

Once they are located, a well financed breeding program needs to be instituted to bring the herds back to their original size so that everyone can again say, "I have seen the elephant."

Help save the El Dorado elephants!

HANANIBAL NOBLE
Echo Summit

A speceal Thank You to.:
Correspondent Doug Noble, and
The Mountain Democrat News Paper.
Amended by.: Cork Quasne