Am I an elephant hunter or a midwife for an elephant?

June 18, 2008

Have you ever used the expression “We are going elephant hunting?” I have for years up until recently. I was in a board meeting and someone raised the topic. And another quipped back, “I think it is more like waiting for an elephant to give birth.” After some laughter from the sheer imagery of the expression, it was explained that elephants have the longest gestation period of any mammal. As is often the case, I went back and began Googling the topic of elephant hunting and gestation periods of elephants (I must have way too much time on my hands!). It turns out it takes about 14 days to go elephant hunting and about 22 months for one to gestate. My daughter was over looking my inquiry and asked how difficult it could be to shoot one – they’re so big, how could you miss? “Honey, I’m sure you’re right and it sounds a lot easier than giving birth to one…” Is your sales force really elephant hunting or being a midwife to an elephant? I would imagine the latter bares a lot more ivory with a lot less casualties.

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