If you want success in life
Don't let your body handicap
your true feelings

To keep you abreast of things, Mrs. DoLittle had better give you a quick update to inform you that even though rhinos have very thick skin, they DO FEEL. Deeply! Some even like to be tickled!

Mrs. DoLittle can speak for her old friend `Girlie' the Indian rhinoceros at the Chiang Mai Zoo. Although rhinos don't see very well, their hearing and sense of smell is acute. As soon as I would get to the top of the hill facing Girlie's enclosure below, I would see her sniffing the wind in anticipation of my arrival.

When I called out to her, she'd bellow like a cow and start trotting in my direction. As I called out again, she'd break into a gallop, rushing to meet me, kicking up a big storm. Luckily her brakes always worked! She'd stop within an inch of me, leaving us both in a great cloud of dust. After it cleared and I stopped coughing, I'd see her standing there, looking straight at me, wearing a big grin from ear to ear.

"Hi, it's about time you came back!" She was of course also wearing her big coat of armor. It is as hard as sheet metal in some places, yet under the heavy plates all over her body, the skin is bright pink and very delicate.

When Mrs. DoLittle started tickling Girlie on these sensitive areas, she would slowly sink down on her knees and eventually completely collapse with delight. Rolling over on her back, her legs would poke straight up in the air. She sometimes fell asleep in this position, snoring loudly for several hours, much to the delight of zoo visitors busy filming the two ton upside down rhino.

At other times, when Girlie wanted a `tickle session' she'd make a racket on the steel bars with her horn. When I came to check what all the noise was about, she'd grin and lift her hind leg. She was as charming as she was big. One of her favorite joys was ice cream. As soon as she saw one, she'd dribble and smack her lips. Girlie is not only a very sensitive rhinoceros, but she has got good taste too!

The moral of today's story is: If you want success in life, don't let your body be a handicap to your true feelings.