Imagine......

[leedsforever]

.... if you were an elephant....
https://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll109/lufcrule08/pgi0398.jpg

... you would be pregnant for 22 months NO THANK YOU!!!



Also aparently an Alpine Salamander of Southern Europe is pregnant for a massive 38 Months. Again.... NO THANK YOU!!!

Sorry was just something I needed to google and share

 

[Younglutonmum]

Wooooo

Suddenly I feel grateful for the 9 months!!!

 

[Sarahkka]

However, an elephant has a much quicker and easier time of giving birth.
I can vouch for this.
I work in a Zoo.
And don't even get me started on how unfair our pelvic girdle is compared with that of other great apes. We may have the fabulous brain, but man, did we ever get a lousy deal with the birth canal.

 

[leedsforever]

wow what a cool job!!!

So how long are elephants in labour for??? Are they under any stress?? Im really intrigued!!!

What other animals have easy labours

 

[emmie]

wooooo i'd never be able to cope
i think 9 months is long!!!

 

[Sarahkka]

wow what a cool job!!!

So how long are elephants in labour for??? Are they under any stress?? Im really intrigued!!!

What other animals have easy labours

I did not get to see any of our elephant calves born, but the keepers told me that the active labour was less than half an hour. The vagina of an (Asian) elephant is almost six feet long, but it's much wider and the pelvic girdle on a quadruped is already more open than ours, so it's push, push and out she comes!
Many hoofed mammals have really long gestation because baby needs to be born ready to run if it wants to survive. Carnivorous mammals usually have quicker gestations, but are born quite helpless (think puppies and kittens). They have a mum made of fur, fangs, and claws, though, so this usually works out okay for them.
I'll have to go online and see if I can find a picture comparing a human pelvis and that of a gorilla. The gorilla's is really long, very flat, and the coccyx (tailbone) is quite short and straight. They can self-deliver in the middle of the rainforest with little effort. Stage two labour is usually less than an hour. Our pelvis, on the other hand, is quite short and dish-shaped - great for walking upright, but quite small. We also have a longer coccyx that sort of tucks in, so that baby's head kind of turns a corner as it comes out. And, baby gorillas are an ave. 3-4 lbs, while our fat little babies are more often in the 7-8 lbs range.

 

[leedsforever]

thats so interesting wow they can self deliver!!!

6 feet long thats longer than me!!!

 

[Tegans Mama]

I'd like to be a cat, and be pregnant for about 28 days lol

 

[Sarahkka]

Yeah, the elephant has a pretty impressive vagina.
This is so rude, but so funny - one of my co-workers read that 6-foot fact out to the rest of us, then said, "I'm only 5'8". If she sat down on me, I'd disappear."
It took every ounce of self-control I had to give an elephant lecture after that without totally cracking up at the image.
By the way, there's a penis to match that vagina! One of the most common little kid comments overheard at the elephant enclosure, particularly when the male is in heat?
"Why does that elephant have five legs?"
Seriously, it's huge! And it's prehensile - he can scratch his belly with is erection!!!
TMI? Well, it's nature.

 

[leedsforever]

is that all they are pregnant for???

how does that work?? crikey!!

 

[leedsforever]

This is so rude, but so funny - one of my co-workers read that fact out to the rest of us, then said, "I'm only 5'8". If she sat down on me, I'd disappear."
It took every ounce of self-control I had to give an elephant lecture after that without totally cracking up at the image. :0

I bet you have a great time at work

 

[cuddles314]

This made me giggle. What a random thought, but actually rather interesting when I read what you posted Sarahkka.
xx

 

[Sarahkka]

I re-posted and added some extra Interesting Facts!
Be careful - I love my job and will dole out this kind of info until you beg me to stop!!

 

[leedsforever]

I re-posted and added some extra Interesting Facts!
Be careful - I love my job and will dole out this kind of info until you beg me to stop!!

no go ahead.... I find it fascinating too!!!

Poor kids how do the parents explain??

 

[Sarahkka]

is that all they are pregnant for???

how does that work?? crikey!!

Cats are born blind and helpless, so they do a lot of developing after the birth. It's pretty amazing when you think about the fact that there are usually several of them in there, though.

 

[leedsforever]

Cats are born blind and helpless, so they do a lot of developing after the birth. It's pretty amazing when you think about the fact that there are usually several of them in there, though.

I suppose lol..... Im not really a cat lover lol!!

That is cool though how they do there developing after birth!!

 

[Sarahkka]

Actually, the parents often get really embarrassed and try to change the subject. It's so silly, because if they just said, "they're making baby elephants", the kid would be quite satisfied and probably just leave it at that.
I hear all sorts of ridiculous comments, like
"they're playing, honey" or my favourite, "he's keeping her dry from the rain"!!!??
Trust me, I have worked with many many many children of varying ages and it is always easier to tell them the truth. You don't need gory details. Just a simple explanation. It saves the poor kid so much confusion.
But some people get really flustered by the whole sex thing, I guess.

 

[leedsforever]

yeh I agree....

bit like the whole.... "giving piggy back rides" statement!!!

Whats wrong with.... "they are making babies??"

 

[Sarahkka]

I know every parent is different, but when I was 2 and my mum was pregnant with my brother, she just got a picture book that explained how babies were made. Straightforward, all the info I needed, and I was completely unphased by it all.
If you play silly games, and blush and stammer and get all tense, kids pick up on that and they start to think that the whole question of where babies come from is somehow wrong or dirty or shameful. It can really give them hang-ups, I think.
I always ask the parents' permission first, but when kids at the Zoo ask me what happens to animals when they die or where the baby whatever came from, I use good-quality picture books and a simple explanation. I don't laugh at them or make them feel silly for asking, and they don't walk away forever perverted because they now know about mating!
But hey, everyone gets to make their own choice about that for their kids, I guess. I just wish there wasn't so much stigma surrounding it. I don't think it's healthy for little kids to feel weirded out by the grown-ups' reactions.

 

[leedsforever]

my mum was very much the same.... I remember I had this book "where do babies come from?" Quite early on!!

One of my friends had started her periods before her parents had explained it all to her!!! She ended up coming to my mum cos she was so embaressed!!