It has always struck me as odd in modern times that anyone who has male elephants or work's with male elephants is revered as something unique, special, or better then the rest when it seems that historically working with male elephants has been the norm, with the task usually, and with relative ease carried out by little men with little or no education, let alone a fancy degree or a PhD of nonsense. You have to wonder who is BSing who?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
A Squad of Elephants Saluting the Commandant at Kinapore, India--Wood Engraving 1864
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Wade G. Burck
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4 comments:
Obviously when we see some twenty tusk males lined up with elaborate trappings, houdis, etc. we have to wonder how this can be done when learned elephant people in America and Europe as well, other than the castarated ones, have no success even with one. Tommy [king tusk] being the exception. What is their secret? Would it be abuse, inhumane handling, or could it be some sort of medication, shots, etc. As an elephant guy over the years I am overwhelmed at these great photos. Also we are know seeing some pretty sophisticated training and showing with single O stuff and multiple groups. Recently I saw a lion hunting group in Africa using a number of houdi trained African elephants. Unheard of here in USA. Some person familiar with the operations please comment. I aqm fabergasted. Thanks, johnny
I have to hand it to John. When he sees something great, he says so. Like with the French horse trainers you had on recently That wasn't always the case with the old timers. No one knew as much as they did, and if someone did something that differed from the norm, it was roundly poo pooed by one and all. I still remember when vinyl big tops came into use - the wailing in Sarasota could be heard all the way to Seattle. Then it was the European tension style tents, which BAC started using here first - oh, my God, what sacrelidge. Now everone is using them.
I think there is a lot that is unknown about animal training too. Just like everything else, it takes someone outside the box to discover it.
Anonymous,
Don't be fooled, you are hearing the new and improved John Herriott. If you don't know the esteemed Col. personally, go back in the archives either on the "history channel" or on this blog for a better understanding. I recall a Bill Cosby comedy skit in which his children were extolling the virtues of their Grandmother and how kind, generous and gracious she was. Bill was beside himself trying to explain to them that she was not the same women today that he had grown up with. He tells the children, "this is an old women now, who is trying to get into heaven. That is not the same women that I knew." :)
Wade
John Milton,
King Tusk was given regular shots to control his urges, although he never did have a real, real strong musth. So he is not an exception. Did you ever hear the rumor about him being trapped in a stretch position in a trailer that had become jammed under a low bridge at a young point of his life, that had supposedly caused him to be "less potent" or sterilized as some would claim?
Why does it have to be abusive, inhumane handling or medication/drug to explain their success? Is it a stretch of the imagination to think that they may be more skilled then Hugo, Smokey, or any other elephant guy with "circus credentials?" Maybe they only use the elephants for a certain purpose and for a certain time and can let them off or even release then and get new one's. A lot of animals get unreasonable if they have to be "with it and for it" all their lives.
Wade
Wade
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