Elephants are among the most interesting creatures to observe, especially when they are working. I was riding through the hills of Kerala with a Japanese guy and we stopped to watch this logging elephant. We watched the beast for a half hour, mesmerized by its inherent understanding of basic physics. The handler on top gave it virtually no instruction - it simply knew what had to be done, and it knew how to use ropes and create levers and ramps to maneuver the heavy logs onto the truck. Once when we were sort of in its path, it calmly put the log down and let out a loud trumpet blast.