Are you an animal lover? More specifically, do you love elephants? I listened to the book The Elephant Whisperer while needle felting an elephant last year and fell in love! Despite their enormous size, they are graceful and loyal creatures. If you have been following our EweTube channel on YouTube, you would already know that we have our very own resident elephant matriarch, Nana. She’s an African elephant, and she’s the head of our felting herd.
Nana is expecting, and we are really excited. She recently did her last ultrasound and Baby Nana looks pretty healthy and ready for his/her grand entrance into the world. The gestation period for elephants in the real world is 18-22 months. This means an elephant comes to full term after about a year and a half or two years of pregnancy. In our felting world, however, our elephant will give birth within about half that time. Nana conceived just around this time last year and is due to give birth this month. Her offspring will be born on April 22, and we can’t wait.
Nana made a guest appearance on our EweTube 69 Episode back in December, where her final ultrasound was shared publicly. The ultrasound revealed a cute Baby Nana with very similar features to her mom. She has ears shaped like the continent of Africa, just like her mom, and a healthy long trunk.
My favorite things about elephants are the fact that they are so intelligent and sensitive. As the largest land mammal, one would expect elephants to be vicious predators, but they are quite the opposite. Elephants are super-emotional plant-eating creatures that can live up to 60-70 years. They won’t attack humans or other species unless they feel threatened. They can hear and communicate through seismic waves, which they can feel through their bones and can possess between seven and nine nasal turbinals with sensitive tissues for smelling. To put things into perspective, dogs have five of these turbinals and humans have three. With this heightened sense of smell, elephants can assess the reproductive status of their mate by smelling airborne hormones.
Nanna
Through years of research, scientists have found that elephants are capable of complex thought and deep feeling. They can sense others’ emotions and offer comfort. Female elephants are very protective of their calves, like any other mammal and her baby, and they are also typically the leader of the herd.
Elephants are such exotic and adorable creatures. My love for them led me to make my own elephant sculpture to add to my herd of felted animals. If you’re just as in love with elephants and want to add them to your collection, you’re in the right place!
I’ve designed an elephant course, available through our Needle Felting Academy membership programs, that you can use as a guide to making your own Nana. These are advanced beginner courses that are best suited for anyone who has already begun their needle felting journey.
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