Scratching Poles

The pillars underneath the observation deck seem to be the official scratching poles. It’s one of Kham Pan’s favourite place to scratch herself. She always goes there after a bath.

When an elephant leans on one of the pillars and rubs their body against it, the whole deck will shake like there’s an earthquake. Fortunately, the observation deck was built with elephants in mind and can withstand the strength of the elephants. She reminds me of a big cat when she uses the big poles to scratch her body. I can always tell if she’s been at it because the cement ridge leaves scratch marks on her skin. Not to worry though, elephant skin is an inch thick so cement is just the right texture to scratch those itchy spots.

Sometimes, Kham Pan will over itch a bug bite and break her skin. Then I worry that she will get an infection or bug may lay eggs in her wound. Pon tells the vets and they usually come by to clean the spot and put medicine on it.

During the first week, she had a ripped toe nail. The vet decided not to cut it and it tore off naturally one day without ripping into the flesh. That was a relief. I’ve seen foot infections get really bad in some elephants. The infection can spread throughout the whole body.