These palms are apparently much stronger than they look. Although the fate of Billy's tusk, and the tree, probably would have had different outcomes had he used his head(literally)rather than his tusks.
When Billy was first introduced into this yard he used his trunk to touch the palm tree, but quickly stopped when he touched one of the hotwires. Ever since that time he has been using his tusks to touch the palm trees.
As a matter of fact, when these photos were taken and on initially hearing the loud pop, I thought it was him short circuiting the wiring. Then we realized he had broken the tip of his tusk. I couldn't get a clear shot of him after the accident, since he had swiftly turned and was making his way back towards the barn with his backside towards me. And I had then been concentrating on the broken tip lying on the ground, as seen in the two photos I submitted.
