Elephant and lion tattoos rule the animal kingdom when it comes to tattoos.
The tattoo above was created by our family member, Fernie Andrade. Done a few years back, the tattoo was done on the thigh of a client and it remains one of the most talked-about animal tattoos on the web.
So what does the elephant represent or symbolize?
Well, elephants represent a lot of things. They are identified as a symbol of strength and patience, while others see it as an imposing power that boasts authority. They actually have many meanings and are also associated with strength, royalty, and ancient wisdom.
Watching these majestic animals has also taught us a lot. They’ve taught us about gentleness, commitment, trust, and love. These deeply committed creatures are loyal to the soil, and they will go to extreme measures to protect their family.
The sheer strength of an elephant is unlike any other in their domain and they’re one of the most interesting animals in the world.
Elephants are also great team players. Actually, they’re not great, they’re extraordinary. For a family of elephants to survive in the wild they must all work together and stick with each other to fight for food and protect themselves from predators. An even more important part of their strategy to survive is their complex system of communication.
Here are a few things you probably didn’t know about elephants:
WHY DO THEY HAVE SO MANY WRINKLES?
Elephants are one of the more interesting animals to tattoo simply because of the detail of their wrinkles, but the wrinkles have a function. All the little folds help disperse heat from the animal and that’s why they take mud baths. The mud gets trapped in the little wrinkles and the moisture trapped in those folds helps continually cool the animal down. The mud also protects it from insects, sun, and moisture loss.
HOW STRONG IS AN ELEPHANT?
The trunk of this powerful animal consists of 100,000 individual muscles – compared to the human body which has less than 800 individual muscles in total. Even more impressive is that the trunk is a few hundred times more sensitive in smell than any dog in the world. The reason it’s so effective is that the entire trunk is lined with olfactory sensors.
So how strong is their trunk? Well, all those muscles translate into a powerful tool that holds a little over 2 gallons of water and can carry over 9,000 kilograms.
HOW MANY TEETH DO ELEPHANTS HAVE?
Elephants only have 4 teeth and they are all molars. There are two in the form of the mouth and two located in the back. But here’s where it gets interesting, when the front two wear down, they drop out, and the two in the back move forward. Then 2 new molars grow in the back of the mouth to replace those that have moved forward. The back molars are able to be replaced 6 times throughout their life. When the last set wears out, they can no longer chew and die of starvation. Teeth are very symbolic and are considered receivers and transmitters of energy linked by connecting paths throughout the astral body.
HOW MUCH DO THEY EAT?
An elephant eats between 220 and 440 pounds of vegetation per day, but when you consider that they weigh between 5,000 to 14,000 pounds, it should come as no surprise.
