Have you been to the circus?
Personally, I’ve never been to the circus. Well, that’s not true; I’ve been to Circus Circus in Reno. I’m told that it doesn’t really compare to the Funundrum. But that changes this week; we were invited to a behind-the-scenes look at the circus and a chance to watch as they bathed the elephants. I was happy to learn that they use a special “Elephant Soap” designed for pachyderms with a lot of vitamins and essential oils in it. And watching them, it sure looked like the elephants were enjoying themselves. They would lift one foot up so the keeper could scrub the bottom of the foot and give them a mani/pedi. And they would lay on their side in the water while the keeper threw soapy water over them and scrubbed them with a wire brush.
Yup, a wire brush like you’d use to peel paint off your wall. We were amazed, but elephant skin is very tough (and you could see big anthropomorphic smiles on the elephants as they got scrubbed).
Did you know that The RB&B&B circus does Elephant Conservation? I didn’t. One reason I haven’t been to the circus is that it felt vaguely politically incorrect. But between that (the conservation efforts) and the obvious dedication of the keepers, I’m happy to say we’re going to the circus on Friday! We’ll be seeing all sorts of things – but the stars will be the elephants!
Check out their site: ringling.com. I’ll check back with you when we get back!
