Prehistoric Park: A Wild Kratts Adventure

A Mammoth Undertaking (Part ll)

Siberia, 150,000 years ago...

"Brrr! It's even colder than last time!" Martin complained.
Compared to their last trip, it's even colder and, because it's dry, lots of different kinds of grass grow here. Nigel and the Kratt Brothers should have no problem finding out what mammoths like to eat.
Chris was ecstatic. "Gentlemen. Welcome to the Mammoth Steppe, the dominant terrestrial biome of the Northern Hemisphere during the late Pleistocene, spanning east to west from Spain to Canada." 
  The world that the team had arrived in was a far cry from the taiga forests of 10,000 years ago; a dry plain nestled within the mountains and glaciers, stretching as far as the eye can see, not a tree to be seen. And the most crucial difference between the two different time periods was the fact that the steppes were alive with herds of woolly mammoths which gave these parts their name. From their vantage point over a snowy slope, they could see the silhouettes of at least twenty animals traveling in the same direction, and their calls and trumpets carried across the valley.
"It's a real different feeling to the last trip."said Nigel. "No trees, perfect climate, perfect vegetation for mammoths. And they're flourishing."
"They're all females." Martin observed through his binoculars. "They have much smaller tusks than the males."
"It must be a matriarchal herd." Chris deduced.
The Englishman nodded as they continued to observe the migrating herd. "They're following the lead of one animal, and she's the matriarch. She could be 50 or 60 years of age. She maintains cohesiveness in the herd. They stop when she stops, they sleep when she sleeps, and they feed and drink when she does."
The Kratt in green directed his lenses to where the mammoths were going. "There's a big patch of green down there. That might be an area of vegetation. And it looks like they're headed there to start feeding."
"Then that's where we should go to get those plant samples." Nigel concluded.
"What're we waiting for?"asked the older Kratt eagerly making donuts in the snow with his snowmobile, just itching for adventure. "Let's go!"
  The three adventurers set off on their snowmobiles, gliding across the ice and snow of the tundra as they approached the mammoth herd which looked for all the world like walking haystacks. They came to a slow and steady halt just several yards away from the herd. The mammoths continued ambling along their traditional migratory route, paying the humans little heed, with the exception of the matriarch who kept a wary eye on them. Fortunately, the trio knew better than to get too close.
Before too long however, the matriarch's concerns would soon lay elsewhere as a great trumpeting commotion began to excite the herd.
The three adventurers were confused. "What's going on?"asked Martin.
"There's a commotion in the herd. The matriarch is leading them away." Nigel replied.
Chris gave a puzzled frown. "Odd."
"I don't know why. I can't see a.... predator." The Englishman's binoculars eventually fell upon the source of the disturbance. He then pointed along the outskirts of the herd; there, disturbing the peace, was a hulking figure with an impressive set of ivory tusks, each one over sixteen feet long. "There. It's a big bull mammoth, a male mammoth, and he's in musth, which means he's ready to mate."
Martin frowned. "When they're in this state, they've got four times the amount of testosterone they normally have. They're looking for a female to mate with, and they can be really bad tempered and aggressive. Any little thing can set them off."
The steppes were filled with the blaring trumpets of the hormonally aroused bull mammoth. "He's driving the herd away."said Chris as the mammoth cows moved away from the cantankerous bull.
"He's investigating all the females, seeing if there's one that's ready to mate."added Nigel.
"But it doesn't look like any of them are interested." Martin remarked. The bull seemed to take the hint and began to lumber off elsewhere while the three zoologists continued to follow the main herd to their pasturing grounds, away from the irate colossus.
The mammoths and the creature adventurers eventually arrived on a grassy meadow where the hairy behemoths began to disperse and graze to their heart's content. While they started their task, the three time travelers took the time to take in the scenery. Needless to say, they were mesmerized by the spectacle which was one day destined to disappear forever with the glaciers.
"Wow!"
"It's such an enchanting sight." Nigel observed. "It's like an extended family– mothers and calves, there's aunties, there's sisters,"
And they all seem to be thriving on their grassland diet.
"Now that's a grass eater alright." Chris noted as observed a grown cow grazing. "Using her trunk like a hand to pull up huge mouthfuls of the stuff." He then approached the bundle of sedge-grass from which she was feeding. "Mind if I take a sample?" The towering giant cast the human a baleful eye upon having her dinner interrupted. The Kratt in green chuckled nervously as he took what he needed and took off; he didn't want to push his luck.
"And look at how rich it is! It's so diverse; grasses and flowers and mosses, all sorts of things." With a handsaw, Nigel began to cut away sizable samples of these prehistoric plants. "And they need a lot of vegetation. Sometimes they have to have 200 kilograms,"
"440 pounds."Martin chimed in.
"That's as much as you and Nigel put together."the younger Kratt snarked.
"Hey!" Martin and Nigel cried out, feigning offense while Chris chuckled at their expense.
"You saying I eat too much chocolate?"questioned the older Kratt.
"I'll have you know I'm a vegetarian!" the Englishman remarked in mock severity. Back to the camera crew, he said, "Anyway. Mammoths forage on things like this over here, they may get vitamins and things from twigs like that."
Martin snickered at the pronunciation. "'Vitamins'." The Englishman gave him a blank expression before turning back to the film crew, "The plan is to get a big enough sample to take it back for an analysis at Prehistoric Park, and get Martha feeding again."
"Besides, Aviva also requested that we bring back plant samples from each time period we visit, so we can actually grow them back in the park. We've even asked Bob to build us a greenhouse just for the purpose."
  They may have come here to find out about their food, but they're learning a lot more besides. Just like elephants, mammoths seem to have a strong bond between members of the herd.
As he was collecting a clump of yellow arctic buttercups, a high pitched trumpeting sound caused Martin to look up from his task. He gasped at what he saw.
"What's wrong, bro?"asked Chris.
"There's a calf stuck in a muddy pond!"cried the older Kratt. It didn't take long for the other two to take notice. Over a hundred yards away from them, a baby mammoth had wandered far from the watchful eyes of his mother and had slipped into a barely frozen pond.
"Oh no,"said the Kratt in green.
Nigel frowned. "He's on his own and he's really struggling."
Martin dropped his bundle of flowers, ready to spring to the baby's rescue. "We gotta help him!" However, he was stopped by Chris' hand on his shoulder.
"Wait, Martin. The rest of the herd have taken notice. The mammoths are going over." True to his brother's word, the adult mammoths lumbered towards the edge of the pond, alerted by the calf's cries for help.
"The matriarch's coming too." Nigel observed, while the head of the herd arrived on the scene. With each feeble attempt to break free, the calf only grew more exhausted as he sank deeper into the mire. "He's really in trouble there, a tiny calf. Can't be more than a month or so old."
Fortunately for the baby, his grandmother was near enough to reach him. After reassuring him with gentle caresses from her trunk, the matriarch used her ten-foot tusks to delicately hook the calf within her grasp. Once her hold was secure, she slowly moved backwards, reeling her grandson safety back on terra firma.
"She did it!"cheered the Kratt Brothers.
Nigel smiled, turning to the film crew. "And that's what the matriarch does. Whenever there's trouble, she goes in to help." The mammoth calf was muddy and drenched, but none the worse for wear, thanks to the actions of his wise and devoted grandmother. With that crisis averted, the herd resumed the usual business of eating while the trio went back to the task of collecting much needed Pleistocene plants.
Mammoths aren't the only creatures tucking in to the rich grassland.
From his place on a rise, Martin surveyed the vast expanse of the steppes. "This place may be called the Mammoth Steppe, but it also supports a wide array of so many other herbivores! There's wild horses, steppe bison, reindeer, and those look like Megaloceros. Sometimes called the Irish elk. It's like the African Serengeti! And there's a rhino." The Kratt in blue did a double take. "A rhino?!"
  Dangerously close to the snowmobiles was what looked to be a gigantic rhinoceros, easily twice the size of any African juggernaut in much later centuries, covered in a shaggy pelt of reddish brown hair. But the most striking feature was the massive horn growing from its forehead. The rhino didn't seem to notice the humans as he lumbered along, grazing as it did so. And it was getting closer!
Chris gulped. "Isn't that a–"
Nigel nodded. "I've seen these in the textbooks. It's an Elasmotherium, a prehistoric rhinoceros twice the size of modern rhinos. Weighs up to 5 tons."
The Elasmotherium will soon be extinct, dying out as the climate gets warmer and its habitat disappears.
"We're downwind of him."said Martin with a strained whisper.
"If Elasmotherium are like modern rhinos, they have very poor eyesight."said Chris.
Nigel nodded. "That's right. He's got to get very close to see us. But if he does he could charge."
"And that horn looks really formidable, it's as long as you're tall." Martin said to the English naturalist. "About 6 feet."
Nigel shuddered as he added, "And he'd have no hesitation about charging and impaling us with that. That would really spoil our weekend."
Martin chuckled nervously. None of them had any plans on becoming human-kabobs. Silently, the three began to back away, far away from the giant herbivore.
Chris suddenly gasped. "But you wouldn't want to be trampled on by an angry bull mammoth either."he countered nervously, looking over his shoulder.
"What makes you say that?"the Kratt in blue asked.
Chris's hand was shaking as he pointed, and it wasn't from the cold. Directly behind them was the hulking form of the male mammoth sighted earlier. The bull gave a threatening roar to the three interlopers standing in his way.
"Flippin' heck." Nigel muttered.
Aware of the mammoth's presence, the Elasmotherium wisely gave the volatile giant a wide berth as he lumbered off to seek good grazing elsewhere. The mammoth showed no such hesitation; as far as he was concerned, he was the most powerful creature in these lands, and these puny underlings would do well to remember that. He continued to advance towards them, becoming less friendly by the minute.
"Shall we run for our lives?" Martin inquired.
"Yes, let's." Nigel replied.
"Run!"
The instant the trio took flight, the bull mammoth was at their heels, roaring and trumpeting his ire. With the raging colossus quickly catching up to them, the threesome had to throw their hard earned grass samples to lighten their escape.
"Yeet!"shouted Martin, throwing his bag to the side as he followed his companions running for their lives. The three adventurers had managed to reach their snowmobiles just as the mammoth came thundering towards them! The Kratt Brothers fled the moment their transports roared to life, but Nigel was having a more difficult time jumpstarting his own. And the enraged behemoth was quickly closing in. Once, twice, the Englishman fiddled with the ignition until– the snowmobile roared to life! Nigel wasted no time in flooring it, ducking down to avoid a sideways swipe of the bull mammoth's tusks, leaving the hulking beast to bellow his rage and frustration as the trio sped away.
Although safe from the wrath of the bull mammoth, the trio need to retrieve the plant bags, but now Nigel's got his eye on something much bigger to take back to the park.
The Kratt Brothers exchanged questioning glances as Nigel set his sights on the Elasmotherium foraging around the plant bags, as though he was guarding them. Not far away from the heavily armed behemoth, a herd of eight Irish elk also grazed. Standing up to seven feet tall at the shoulders, the bucks sported impressive sets of antlers, each as long as a person.
This is their chance to save the Elasmotherium from extinction, but it means taking a huge risk and using themselves as bait.
The giant rhinoceros began to move away from the plant bags. It was now time for action. While Chris was tasked with setting up the time portal, Nigel and Martin would go to retrieve the plant samples, deliberately making as much noise as possible to draw the rhino's attention.
Alerted by the intrusion, the Elasmotherium turned to face the scrawny humans, his horn lowered in threat. After recovering their samples, the older Kratt hurled a snowball at the irate herbivore. Martin's aim was true as the snowball struck the rhino in the snout. The horned behemoth rumbled and snorted his ire, clouds of smoke billowing from his nostrils as he pawed the frozen earth with his front feet, preparing for his charge.
The blue one was going to die first.
"Hey Vlad!" Martin shouted. "Over here, big guy!"
Nigel raised an eyebrow. "Vlad? After Vlad the Impaler?"
Martin chuckled as he gave a sheepish grin. "It seemed appropriate."
Just then, Chris yelled, "Guys! The portal's ready!"
Despite the newly named Vlad bearing down upon them, Martin and Nigel remained motionless. "On the count of three,"said the Englishman calmly, "one..... two...."
The horned colossus thundered closer and closer...
"Three!"
Judging the time was right, the pair opted for tactical retreat, with the rhino not far behind. The sight of the oncoming Elasmotherium was enough to spook the Megaloceros herd into a stampede, with the males leading the does away from the imminent threat, galloping blindly through the transparent veil of time that suddenly materialized in their path. The three creature adventurers and the raging, shortsighted Elasmotherium followed soon after.
*****Prehistoric Park, 21st century...*****
  It was complete pandemonium as the trio ran through the stockade with five tons of angry rhinoceros at their heels!
"Get these veg samples!"shouted Nigel as he and Chris tossed their bags over the stockade.
"Yeet!" yelled Martin as he threw his. And not a moment too soon as Vlad the Elasmotherium thundered directly behind them, bellowing and roaring his fury! Before them, the herd of Irish elk bellowed and pranced in alarm as they struggled to escape within the sudden confines of the wooden palisades, large antlers locking and buckling with every push and shove. Fortunately for the panicked deer, Vlad's focus was solely on the three humans that had beguiled him, six-foot spear lowered with murderous intent.
  Martin and Chris were quick to climb up the ladder which led to the catwalk situated on top of the stockade. Nigel soon followed. His eyes widened as he saw the rhino's horn had missed him by mere inches!
"Ohh! Close the gate!"he shouted, and two frantic keepers quickly slid the wooden gate shut, halting the rhino's charge. The cornered beast snorted in protest, slamming his horn against the barrier which threatened to burst with each mighty blow.
"Martin! See if you can round up the Megaloceros! Chris, you're with me!"
Martin nodded. "You got it, Nigel!" They ran along two separate ends of the catwalk.
The instant a clear corridor opened up for the spooked herd of Megaloceros, the deer immediately took it, running in single file towards a spacious quarantine enclosure.
"On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen, on Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, on Blitzen!"shouted Martin from his platform, naming each elk as they passed through into the holding pen. There were four males and four females within the herd. "All the Irish elk are accounted for!"
With Nigel and Chris, the pair of them had opened up a passage that would lead Vlad into an unoccupied enclosure of his own.
"Okay, let him through!"ordered Nigel.
The moment the gate was reopened, the rhinoceros wasted no time in charging through the open corridor, ultimately being funneled into the holding pen.
As soon as Martin rejoined them, the three zoologists exchanged congratulations and high fives. "We've got it!" Below them, Vlad bellowed as he glanced up at the celebrating primates now far out of his reach. He'd been had again.
The large male Elasmotherium and the herd of eight Megaloceros are now the latest additions to Prehistoric Park.
Alerted by the surge in activity, Bob hobbled over to meet the three creature adventurers. "All right, chaps? What's going on?" He then looked down into the enclosure holding the rhino. "I don't believe it! Only you three could go away to collect a few grasses and come back with something like that!"
"Say hello to Vlad the Elasmotherium!"said Martin with an infectious smile while Chris rolled his eyes in amusement.
"He's magnificent, isn't he?"panted Nigel, partly from all the excitement, and partly from the sudden African heat after a day in the Ice Age.
Bob radioed the others. "Suzanne? You'd better get over here. Nigel and the Kratt Brothers got a little surprise for us. Look at that!"
Nigel, Martin, and Chris head straight over to see whether they can tempt Martha with their lce Age grass samples.
Nigel held out a handful of Pleistocene grass for Martha. "Come on, Martha. Come on. This is prehistoric salad." But Martha didn't acknowledge the food, or even move.
   "You must be feeling hungry."said Martin. "How about some buttercups?" No response.
"Come on."urged Chris. "This is salad from the lce Age. You gotta at least try it." The mammoth only gave a pitiful moan before promptly turning away.
Aviva came to greet them. "Hey guys. How's she doing?"
"She just won't be enticed."the English naturalist replied regretfully. "She just won't feed at all." Aviva's heart sank at the news.
  Suddenly the roar of an engine rumbled over the hill, and the foursome and the mammoth looked over to see the Createrra VX slowly driving in, followed by the herd of eight Megaloceros. Disembarking from the all-terrain vehicle was Koki and Jimmy Z, the latter rattling a bucket full of pellets and feed which he scattered about in the grass for the herd of hungry deer.
"Hey guys. Sorry we're late," Jimmy announced. "Bob needed the trailer to move Vlad erm, whatever you called him, to his new home. Plus there wasn't enough room in there for those ginormous antlers."
"Good news. Martha's got some new neighbors."said Koki, gesturing to the giant deer who were content to be grazing along the boundaries of Martha's pen. "Turns out that the Megaloceros, or Irish elk, used to inhabit much of the same landscape as the woolly mammoth, from Ireland to the east in Siberia. What'd we miss?"
"That's great, Koki. But–" Aviva gestured sadly towards Martha who barely spared her new neighbors a glance. "She's still not eating." The technician's smile disappeared.
"Oh no."
"If it's not the food, what else could be the problem?"asked JZ mildly exasperated.
The three creature adventurers exchanged sad glances as they took a good look at the forlorn creature standing in the empty enclosure. One thing was sadly clear; she was more alone now than she ever was back in the Ice Age. How could they not have seen it before?
Nigel sighed. It was time to acknowledge the hairy elephant in the room. "It's anthropomorphic to say it, but she looks lonely."
Chris nodded. "Of course, she's an intelligent and emotional creature."
"They have feelings. Thoughts. Maybe even plans for the weekend."said Martin. Nigel raised an eyebrow but didn't dare to contradict the Kratt in blue. Instead he said, "The mammoths we saw, the females at least, were always in big groups."
"There were aunts, grandmas, moms, calves, sisters."the Kratt in blue added in a faraway tone.
"We would have brought another one back, but of course, her sister was killed by the hunters."the Englishman said with a great deal of remorse.
"Oh."said Koki, feeling even more sorry for the lonesome pachyderm. "That's terrible. It's no wonder she's so blue."
"Really? She looks more like a reddish brown to me," Jimmy remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"No Jimmy. I meant that she's depressed."
"Oh."
"Not to mention that male we encountered was way too unpredictable." Chris added in a matter-of-factly tone.
"It makes so much sense."said the inventor, remembering the genetic data she analyzed. "Mammoths and elephants are closely related. They even share 99.9% of the same DNA."
  Nigel nodded. "In elephant societies, only bulls are on their own. Cows are always with calves and other elephants."
"So maybe she needs some companionship." Martin concluded.
Chris tapped his chin in thought. "But how?"
Could that be the answer? The reason that Martha is not eating is the fact that she's all alone.
Suddenly everyone's attention was drawn by a tiny trumpeting at the edge of the paddock. Even lonesome Martha raised her huge tusked head in interest; it had been so long since she had heard that call, the call of a calf. Aviva felt something nudge her from behind. She turned around, and smiled as soon as she saw who it was. "Oh hi, sweetie!"
"Thornsley? What are you doing here?" Chris questioned. The baby elephant had wandered away from his herd to greet his human friends and playmates.
"You gotta get back to your herd."said Martin, affectionately scratching Thornsley's rough skin.
"Your mum's gonna be worried sick."cooed Nigel, crouching down to be at eye level with the calf. Thornsley relished in the attention he was getting from his caretakers. Just then, a huge shadow fell over the tiny calf, causing him and everyone else to look up. Martha, who had been silent and withdrawn all day, had lumbered over to see this small and hairless visitor standing just outside the paddock.
  With the team, no one moved, not a word was said as they all silently watched this interaction.
Martha rumbled a low guttural salutation to the curious calf. Thornsley enthusiastically chirped a greeting at this strange hairy elephant who seemed to be very friendly. What was she doing all by her lonesome self? Martha slowly reached her trunk beyond the fence, stopping just mere inches from the calf. Thornsley fearlessly reached out to touch the extended trunk.
  The spectating humans were moved by the touching scene, Aviva and Koki especially as they had to muffle a giggle.
  Just then, a loud trumpet sounded over the ridge, the sound of Thornsley's mother calling for him. Upon hearing the voice of his mother, the elephant calf reluctantly ran back to rejoin the herd, but not before trumpeting a farewell to his new friend.
The moment the baby elephant disappeared out of sight, the mammoth's depression seemed to return to her tenfold, moaning mournfully as she remembered everything she had lost; herd members, family and loved ones who had succumbed to starvation, pestilence, or the human spear, and lastly her sister, all she had left in the harsh and unforgiving world she left behind; the last one who had loved her and comforted her through their ever changing world before she was so cruelly taken away from her. The team could only look on sadly as Martha slowly lumbered to the opposite side of the enclosure, the last of her kind anywhere in the world.
The silent spell was finally broken as Martin sighed.
  "One truly is the loneliest number."said JZ glumly. Chris could only nod sadly in agreement.
"Ay pobrecita."Aviva sniffed, blinking away hot tears, her heart going out for the forlorn and dispirited mammoth while the computer whizz placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Some creatures are well suited to being on their own, like the Elasmotherium and the cave bear, who are both settling in well to their new home. But just as elephants need to be close to their families, so do mammoths. Martha, barely able to stand up, is dying of loneliness.