Let's Color: Coloring A Heffalump

In the original Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, heffalumps are depicted as a sort of mythological creature. Nobody in the story has actually seen a heffalump however the characters believe there is some omnipresent threat of a heffalump coming to wreak havoc on the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood.

What is clear from the artwork from the original, is that a heffalump resembles an elephant. In the original story, Pooh and Piglet set a trap to catch a heffalump and then each dreams of the heffalump. Piglet imagines a gigantic elephant which aggressively tries to trample the small piglet.

Pooh's dream manifests a different sort of heffalump. This one, while still an elephant, is smaller and more cunning. Pooh imagines an intelligent creature which has designs to steal pots of honey from the bear.

The pair never catch the heffalump so we never find out what a real heffalump would look like, but from their collective imaginings, it's clear that a heffalump should resemble an elephant which may or may not be extremely large or intelligent and may or may not stand on two legs.

But are the fears of a heffalump attack warranted by the animals that dwell in the idyllic forest? Possibly. According to this article from BBC, elephants are the cause of 500 human deaths per year. They are even known to raid villages causing destruction and deaths. If the animals of the Hunded Acre Wood were encroaching on heffalump territory, it's very possible heffalumps would coordinate an attack.

Furthermore, elephants are considered to be highly intelligent and an adult elephant needs to eat 150 kilograms of afood a day. Perhaps Pooh's fears of a heffalump stealing his honey is not so unwarranted.

This begs the question, are heffalumps simply creatures of legend? Or were the characters in the story being completely reasonable when they saw the tracks in the mud and decided it was the track of a heffalump? It's clear from contextual clues that the characters believed heffalumps existed, though no one had seen one before. Were stories of these creatures passed down through generations from the first settlers of the Hundred Acre Wood?

What are some legends that you grew up with? Do you think they might be real?