Rock-a-bye Babar

Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, founder of the Elephant Nature Park animal sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand, has a special bond with rescued elephant Faa Mai. When it’s time for Faa Mai to sleep, Lek sings a lullabye, and like a child Faa Mai lies down and drifts off to Dreamland.







To sender-inner Sharon H. and to all, peaceful dreams.

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29 thoughts on “Rock-a-bye Babar

  1. Jan May 27, 2016 / 3:09 pm

    That made me tear up, it was so beautiful.

  2. birdcage May 27, 2016 / 3:16 pm

    I needed that. How sweet. I have a lullabye that I sing to my parrot – “You Are My Sunshine”. I change up the words slightly so that he hears me sing words that he loves like “peanut” and “shower”. It’s the one sure-fire way to get him to settle down and listen to me when he’s worked up. I’ve been singing it to him since he was a tiny ball of downy fluff. Everyone needs a lullabye.

    • amyliz May 27, 2016 / 6:41 pm

      Birdcage, that is so sweet! What a good mom you are to your bird baby! And I lovd this video and now must add to my bucket list: Sing a lullaby to an elephant, baby or otherwise.

    • Faye May 27, 2016 / 7:17 pm

      ❤️

    • Haha May 27, 2016 / 9:38 pm

      What a beautiful relationship to witness.

      Birdcage, Please get a recording device out the next time your parrot is worked up, then record the worked up part through the calming song. Any song sung to another in a loving manner is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
      I change the words to the songs I sing all the time to suit my situation. It’s fun. Kinda like punning but with a rhyme and beat.

  3. Patris May 27, 2016 / 3:49 pm

    When world or personal events seem too terrible to bear, I am going to remember that at any given moment there are people like this woman doing things of such heartbreaking beauty. I come here for the funny, but I stay for stuff like this.

  4. Murray C. May 27, 2016 / 3:54 pm

    So lovely and loving. How the elephant drew her to itself was touching as could be and their communication is wonderfully deep. Like Jan, I am quite teary-eyed.

  5. Phred's Mom May 27, 2016 / 4:22 pm

    What my world needs now. . .

  6. Kar May 27, 2016 / 6:15 pm

    I get the feeling that Faa Mai wasn’t the only affected elephant touched by these little rituals.

    That kiss was adorable. Never seen a trunk coil up like that, wonder if they all do that when they sleep.

    • Blakeney May 28, 2016 / 1:45 am

      I know! Like a cinnamon roll. I so have the feels right now. Also, I want cinnamon rolls.

      That was beautiful, and very touching. What a wonderful lady

  7. Faye May 27, 2016 / 7:11 pm

    Breathtaking. Trust and love. Thank you, NTMTOM.

    I am currently in an ongoing discussion with a very educated man who does not acknowledge that the difference between Dolphins/Whales/Elephants vs humans is anatomical rather than emotional, intellectual or cultural.

    I am of the opinion that these creatures are as caring and smart as we are, that they have culture and transmit knowledge, history and stories between generations. He senses this but dismisses it because they do not have technology.

    • dubravkamcvmd May 27, 2016 / 7:55 pm

      I basically agree with you but I think there is a point about technology, though maybe not the one your friend may be making. I think humans are extremely clever apes, but a huge gap exists between us and the other animals because of technology. If you think about “aboriginal” societies, you can see humans as extremely clever apes. Once writing is invented, the distance between humans and the other animals increases exponentially. We can use each other’s brains in ways no other animal can.

      • Faye May 28, 2016 / 4:41 am

        Hmmm, writing. That is a good point. Communication over time and distance.

    • amyliz May 27, 2016 / 8:17 pm

      Faye, I am with you on this one. We used to think that tool use separated us from animals but now we know that many animals use tools and what is technology but a tool! Maybe if (some) animals were exposed to it, they could learn, in their own way, to use it, too.

      • Murray C. May 27, 2016 / 9:49 pm

        Some in the science community, I have read, have determined that a dog can have intelligence equal to a human two year old. At least we’re past the days of “dumb” animals, beings with no emotional life. And animals do so smile! You can’t tell me otherwise. And I strongly believe that this little community here will back me up on that.?

        • Faye May 28, 2016 / 4:45 am

          They smile, laugh and giggle!

          • Murray C. May 28, 2016 / 7:35 am

            ???

            • Faye May 29, 2016 / 6:25 am

              Nice!

      • Faye May 28, 2016 / 4:44 am

        They use tools, they have language, but as Dubravkamcvmd points out, other than “stories” they don’t have writing…

    • mariana May 28, 2016 / 5:54 am

      I must say that I believe that these arguments stem from a long surpassed belief on the difference between man and animal, rational and irrational, passed on to us for centuries and that science has now disproved. also from a want to believe from people that we – humans – are special. that we alone have a spark that others do not. but if we listen for example to this:
      http://www.npr.org/2015/02/20/384949670/what-makes-the-human-brain-unique
      we will find that we (and our brains) are not that special at all.

      • Faye May 29, 2016 / 6:42 am

        We cook!

        • dubravkamcvmd May 29, 2016 / 9:05 am

          I love the idea that, according to the clip Mariana provided, our brains are so powerful because of cooking, traditionally considered women’s work!

  8. Gigi_the cat lady May 27, 2016 / 7:47 pm

    I love when Faa Mai the elephant reels in Lek with her trunk and you can her her rumbling purr.

  9. Duckie May 27, 2016 / 8:47 pm

    Is elephant dreamland the same as kitten dreamland?

  10. sugitomo May 28, 2016 / 12:41 am

    Aww, how sweet! For a moment, I thought that second elephant might join in on nap time.

  11. George Michael Sherry May 28, 2016 / 5:06 am

    She has a lovely voice, and that’s a lovely song. It’s not easy to sing without accompaniment, much less while patting an elephant.

    I didn’t realize that adult elephants lie on their sides. If you’d asked me 10 minutes ago, I’d have said they sleep standing up; if you’d told me they lie down, I’d have pictured them upright (like the typical llama “where did its legs go?” pose). I guess I figured an elephant is so big it’d be like a beached whale, and its weight would make it unable to breathe on its side. Obviously not. I also would have questioned if an adult elephant could ever get back UP from lying on its side (the babies don’t have all that easy a time of it), but I guess at least this one can!

    • George Michael Sherry May 28, 2016 / 5:17 am

      Outside the editing window (shame on me! NTMTOM gives us a perfectly good editing window and I’m too slow to use it!), it occurred to me that, although llama was the first example of lying upright that occurred to me, it was a bad example, because an elephant’s legs couldn’t possibly curl up under it like that. Then I thought, if an elephant DID lie down upright, where WOULD its legs go? Then I decided I didn’t have any idea what I was talking about. That is all.

      • Faye May 29, 2016 / 6:44 am

        ROFLOL. Priceless conclusion.

    • mariana May 28, 2016 / 5:59 am

      i particularly liked seing her (I decided it’s a she) lying on her side.. I always think that any other sleeping position mut not be comfy..

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