WOOLLY RHINOCEROS: Keeping Important Secrets

From 50,000 to 10,000 years ago, Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) roamed throughout Europe and Northern Asia.  As detailed in many cave paintings, Woolly Rhinoceros was well-adapted to life in the Ice Age for He had an undercoat of thick fur and a top coat of shaggy hair.  To survive in the extreme conditions of the freezing cold, He also had a compact body.  In fact, Woolly Rhinoceros was stockier than Modern Rhinos.  (The modern Relative of Woolly Rhino is Sumatran Rhino, who has a light covering of fur.)

            As depicted on cave walls, Woolly Rhino is often shown leaning down scraping the ground with his horn.  When these horns of Woolly Rhinos were first found, people thought that they were the claws of giant Birds.  Made of compacted hair, these horns were flat unlike modern Rhinos, whose horns are rounder.  Living on the plains and in open woodlands, Woolly Rhino would sweep the snow away with his horn to uncover the grass underneath.

            Fossils of Woolly Rhino were found recently in 2011 on the Tibetan Plateau.  From examining these fossils, some scientists believe that He originated there during the Pliocene epoch about 3.6 million years ago.  Meanwhile, other fossils of Woolly Rhino were found near the Beringia land bridge on the Asian side.

            One major mystery that is puzzling to scientists is why Woolly Rhino did not cross over to North America.  What was so different between Asia and North America?  So far, Woolly Rhino has not told anyone why He did not migrate any farther.

            Behind a thin veil of mystery, Woolly Rhino keeps his secrets.  We may know nearly everything about Him, but there are still some things He keeps to Himself.  We know what Woolly Rhino ate, lived, and other facts but we do not know why He did not migrate to North America.  He keeps his own counsel about these things. We may never find out why Woolly Rhino decided to remain where He was.  Learn from Woolly Rhino how to keep important secrets from prying people. 

Rhinocerous: Connection to Spirit (2 of 2)

Known as the great Indian one-horned Rhinoceros, the Indian Rhino is a descendant of an old species of rhinos – Indricotherium (formerly known as Baluchitherium), the largest land Mammal that ever lived. Elephant grass is this Rhino’s principal food, but He will also eat bamboo shoots and crops. Because of this, Indian Rhinoceros is in direct conflict with people over food.

Found only in the dense forests of a reserve in Java, the Java Rhinoceros is dangerously close to extinction. Little is known about these Rhinos except that They like living in forests that have a good water supply. Once common through Southeast Asia, the Sumatran Rhinoceros is now restricted to small areas of Sumatra and Burma (Myanmar). Although They look clumsy, these Rhinos are adept to climbing mountains. As the world’s smallest Rhino, the Sumatran Rhino is the only one with hairy skin.

Because of Rhinos’ staying power, They can connect us with the wisdom of the past. In our foolishness, we may allow Rhinos to disappear forever. Before that happens, we need to listen to Rhino, and learn through understanding. Through Rhino, we join the heart that connects us all.

Teachings of the Rhino Family Include:
“Rhinoceros medicine wisdom teaches us to regularly celebrate our sacred connection with spirit through ritual and ceremony.” Copyright: “Shamanic Wisdom II”, Dolfyn and Swimming Wolf.

Wisdom of the Rhino Family Includes:
Sagacity
Repository of Ancient Wisdom
Use of Ritual and Ceremony
Staying Power




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Copyright: Virginia Carper, Animal Teachers, 2009

From Universal Class, fun self-paced classes taught by me:

Finding Your Animal Teachers

Animals For Everyone: Mammals

Rhinocerous: Connection to Spirit (1 of 2)

RHINOCEROS FAMILY: Connect to the Heart

Relics of an early era, Rhinoceroses are massive Mammals with barrel-shaped bodies. Noted for their nose horns, these Animals have one large horn curving upwards from their snouts. (Some Rhinos have two.) Rhinos use their horns to boot and butt their attackers. Despite their fearsome appearances, many Rhinos are generally peaceful Animals.

Unfortunately for Rhinos, people hunt Them for their horns. Some Arabs use the horns for ceremonial sheaths for their knives. Between 1969 and 1977, 8,000 Black Rhinos were slaughtered for this use alone. Moreover, some Asians believe that powdered rhino horns have curative powers. To prevent extinction, many Rhinos were placed in fenced sanctuaries. Only recently, have Indian, Black, and White Rhinoceros numbers finally stopped declining.

There are five species of Rhinos. The Black and White Rhinos live in Africa. The name for “white” Rhinos comes from the Afrikaans word, weit which means “wide”, in reference to these rhinos’ wide mouths. Gentle giants, White Rhinos are the most sociable of the Rhinos. Smaller than White Rhinos, Black Rhinos are the most aggressive of the Rhinos. When disturbed, a Black Rhino will charge with great speeds at an unwary observer.

However, Oxpeckers graze on the backs of both White and Black Rhinos with impunity. In Swahili, the Tick-bird (Oxpecker) is called askari wakifaru, “the rhino’s guard”. Besides picking ticks off the rhino’s back, Oxpeckers screech loudly when people approach.

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Copyright: Virginia Carper, Animal Teachers, 2009

From Universal Class, fun self-paced classes taught by me:

Finding Your Animal Teachers

Animals For Everyone: Mammals

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