Caitlin OConnell - Wild Rituals

Copyright 2021 by Caitlin OConnell.

Photographs copyright 2021 by Caitlin OConnell & Timothy Rodwell.

Wolf images courtesy of Jim and Jamie Dutcher, Living with Wolves.

Flamingo image courtesy of Melissa Groo.

Chimpanzee image courtesy of Frans de Waal.

Humpback whale and calf image courtesy of Rich Neely.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: OConnell, Caitlin, 1965- author.

Title: Wild rituals : 10 lessons animals can teach us about connection,

community, and ourselves / Caitlin OConnell, PhD.

Description: 1st. | San Francisco, California : Chronicle Prism, [2021] |

Includes bibliographical references. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2020038985 | ISBN 9781452184852 (hardcover) | ISBN

9781797201634 (paperback) | ISBN 9781797201610 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Animal behavior.

Classification: LCC QL751 .O28 2021 | DDC 591.5dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020038985

Design by Pamela Geismar.

Typesetting by Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama. Typeset in Bauer Bodoni, Brandon Grotesque, Baskerville.

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Thanks, Dad, for showing me my first crayfish and newt
in the stream in the woods behind our house in Wyckoff, New Jersey,
for showing me how to fish at Culver Lake, for taking me on camping trips,
and for teaching me how to scuba dive when I was nine years old.
Thanks for sharing your passion for nature
and wanderlust for travelclearly, it was contagious.

The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.

Charles Darwin

I had a lot on my mind while driving back to Mushara waterholemy elephant field site in the northeast corner of Etosha National Park, Namibia. Its a place Ive returned to every July, for the last thirty years, to study elephants. One of the largest national parks in Africa, Etosha spans over 8,500 square miles and hosts approximately three thousand elephants.

Lost in thought, my eyes focused on the dusty horizon. Suddenly, two gray behemoths appeared in the middle of the chalky calcrete road, oblivious to the vehicle hurtling toward them.

I slammed on the brakes and pulled over to avoid colliding with two of the worlds largest land creatures. Right in front of me, two female elephants hell-bent on reuniting were kicking up a large cloud of white dust to get to each other.

I was already running an hour late and I was eager to get back to the field site before what I refer to as elephant oclockwhen family groups of elephants start convening at waterholes. This window is anywhere between four oclock in the afternoon until about two oclock in the morning. If my research team and I had any hope of building our elephant identification catalog, we had to take photos before the sun went down.

When the dust settled, I could see these giants were two of my favorite elephants, Knob Nose and Donut, who were named for their distinctive physical features. The former had a very large wart on her trunk. The latter had a very large hole in the middle of her ear like a donut hole. They had come from opposite sides of the road, and upon seeing each other, immediately ran to embrace, their ritualized greeting ceremony blocking my passage.

Facing each other, the elephants held their heads high above their shoulders while rapidly flapping their ears. Then Donut lifted her trunk and bellowed a thunderous roar, almost as if something terrible had just happened. Having observed wild elephants for as long as I had, I knew this vocalization was purely an expression of intense excitement.

Next, the elephants rumbled softly, while preparing to place their trunks in the others mouththe elephant equivalent of a handshake. Trunks extended, the tips of both of their trunks quivered in anticipation, as Donut gently placed the tip of her trunk against the side of Knob Noses mouth like a kiss. Knob Nose reciprocated.

After the requisite trunk-to-mouth greeting ritual, they immediately positioned themselves side by side, facing north. They stood with a foot-long section of their trunks lying flaccid on the road. When an elephant does this, it appears that theyve suddenly lost all muscle control over their enormous, prehensile noses. Their shoulders were erect and poised, as if they were about to engage in a formal march. Instead, they remained frozen in place, while roaring and rumbling wildly.

Then the inevitable happened. No female elephant greeting ceremony is complete without the sudden and thorough evacuation of both bowels and bladder. It is the ultimate expression of sheer, elephantine joy.

Given the intensity of their greeting, you might assume they hadnt seen each other in years. While I had no way of knowing exactly how long they had been separated, my guess was minutes, to perhaps a few hours. Whenever Id see one of these elephants, the other wasnt far behind, so I couldnt imagine it had been very long.

Knob Nose and Donut were residents in the region of my elephant study, Knob Nose being the matriarch of her family, and Donut, second in command. Since they spent much of their time at a neighboring waterhole, I didnt get to observe them very often. I had always assumed that Donut was Knob Noses daughtersuch was the age difference and the nature of the bond they shared.

Knob Nose and Donut continued vocalizing in long low rumbles, ears still flapping rapidly back and forth, contributing to the frenetic mood of the ritual. The temporal gland next to their eyes was now streaming, creating two wet streaks down either cheek.

Clearly something momentous was occurring during their reconnection, both psychologically and physiologically. The intent and singular focus with which they engaged in this very specific set of ritualized gestures was striking.

THESE TYPES OF RITUALS in the animal kingdom may seem completely unrelated to rituals in our own lives. But they arent and shouldnt be. Greeting rituals are pivotal to peaceful coexistence. Observing how important greeting rituals are in other animals is an important reminder of our own need for this ritual.

Even seemingly small acts in our daily liveslike saying hello, bowing, making eye contact, or giving someone a hugare things we sometimes take for granted. Rituals related to greetings, courtship, bonding, play, and mourning, for example, are a huge part of our own lives, and much is lost when we ignore them. Rituals inform our behavior, particularly when we are feeling uncertain about what to do. They provide a routine in an unpredictable world. They also hold us together as a community with a shared set of expectations. We have much to learn from our nonhuman animal relatives.