Elephant Candle Holders

Today’s elephants are actually handmade candle holders. There is a hole on each elephant's back for a fairly thick candle.

The white paint used on these candle holders highlights the elephants’ tusks. Both male and female African elephants grow tusks.

An elephant's tusks are actually its teeth.  They are its incisors.  Most of the tusk is a hard, dense bony tissue called dentin.  The entire tusk is coated with enamel.

Elephant tusks serve many purposes. They are used to protect the elephant’s trunk, to lift and to move objects, to gather food and to strip bark from trees. They can also be used for defence against an attacker. Elephants even use their tusks to dig holes to find water underground during times of drought.

Here is an interesting fact. Each individual elephant can be either right-tusked or left-tusked just like we humans are right-handed or left-handed. The tusk an elephant uses more is usually smaller because of wear and tear.

I learned something new today! Writing these posts each day helps me be a lifelong learner.I trust you enjoy learning something new each day too!

# living life abundantly   # published author