VIPER Street Combat Personal Protection

Thank you Bob Martin for this gem

In 1982, Joe Miller was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Tulsa Junior College.

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Joe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. Joe worked the wood out with his knife as carefully and gently as he could, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to Joe and stared at him for several tense moments with a rather curious look. Joe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.

Eventually, the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Joe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Joe was walking through the Tulsa Zoo twenty years later with his family. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to where Joe and his family were standing. The giant bull elephant stared at Joe, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times, then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1982, Joe could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Joe summoned his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Joe's legs, and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.