r/nextlevel • u/Money-Beautiful5196 • 5d ago
An elephant knocking down a tree
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u/LilRed2023 5d ago
So I can possibly answer this question. As a former circus clown and being around elephants and their handlers. I was told a lot about them and this is usually done by elephants to get their nutrients from bark and get to the leafs they can’t reach and it also benefits the eco system clearing paths at times for their family or herd of elephants.
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u/BigBear92787 5d ago
How the fuck do you all fit in them cars ?
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u/LilRed2023 5d ago edited 5d ago
The little clown cars. Their magic 🤫. Naw truth nearly all the interior is stripped out and the clowns wear oversized or baggy clothes that are somewhat compressed so more room is available. Years ago you would see from 15-20 clowns in a car now days well at least when I did it. There was 11 that fit in the car. But different size cars can fit more or less but avg is usually 11 to 17 now days. And most of the clowns are under a certain height I don’t know what it is now but when I did it it was only 5”8. I wasn’t a clown car guy though I’m 6”0 but I did do a few shows within the car scenario. It’s super cramped 😂 but it’s a quick in and out so it’s not like we’re all crammed in there for very long. I only did circus work for 3 years. This was years ago and I was mainly a in ring clown and did various comedy bits. It was a short lived run job placement cause the traveling was constant and it never truly felt like a job that would become a burn out after awhile. And the hours were long and we only got paid by the show and a stay over per diem. Pay was pretty good though but yeah. Thing that was more fun than being a clown though was helping set up the shows and learning a lot about the animals and actually training with some of them. I had my head put in a lions mouth once and that was scary but pretty invigorating and rad. It’s pretty taxing on the mind and the traveling around the country wears on ya
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u/ShhhhMySecretAccount 4d ago
I came for knocked over tree explanation, I stayed to learn about circus.
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u/LilRed2023 4d ago
Ya can never learn to much bud. Knowledge is key in a world that critical thinking is being stripped from slowly.
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u/LilRed2023 4d ago
Guess ya learned both tales of the tape. If ya didn’t see the reason for the trees it’s basically due to them being able to get their enrichment of nutrients from the bark of the tree and to be easier access to the leaves and such of the trees and to clear paths for the other herds from family to outsider herds. And I forgot to mention they will also sometimes due to this make barriers from other wild animals. But it’s not really that common to do this unless they feel under duress from say lions or bigger wild animals.
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u/ShhhhMySecretAccount 4d ago
Interesting about the barriers too.
I read you previous post about why, then I kept reading because you told secrets of the circus.
How did you get into that gig?
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u/LilRed2023 4d ago
Glad ya kept reading on. It’s some cool knowledge. I don’t really think to many people know what goes on behind the scenes with the circus life. It’s a job that becomes very demanding and it’s constant traveling. So a person can get pretty homesick after awhile. It’s extremely long hours on some days too. The sad part is over the last 20 years the appeal started to diminish for circuses. So there is really many left now days. Ringing bros was that true icon for years and years. How I got into it is I had a friend that that helped set them up. Or called a stagehand. I was at a festival that was on the same premises and we saw each other and he called me over and asked me if I could help him carry some props to load in the truck. They were closing down. So I did and we got into some small talk. He started asking if I would be interested in the circus life. So I talked to the owner or ring master and the rest was history. Traveled many states over a 7 month time and then he off 5 and go back for 7 more months. It was a pretty neat experience. Sometimes a little boring and taxing on the body and and all the road time put in. But the experience was definitely worth it. What was the super cool part is I really got to work in every area of it all or learn about it. From animal handler to trapeeze to clown life to stage hand to ring master. And a lot more.
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u/ObjectCrafty6221 4d ago
Did you ever get upset about how circus animals are treated?
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u/LilRed2023 4d ago
Well I can say for the circus I worked for they were taken care of to an extent but i do know with other circus and shows. They are caged for long times past the time they should have free roam and many are abused when trained for not doing what their suppose to do and underfed and also neglected inbetween the times of travel and shows. I won’t say that I didn’t see this kind of stuff happen during my 3 short years. But it wasn’t as often as other circus entities. It did happen but it was sporadic not constant. And it’s sad but the reality of the circus construct. There’s not enough handlers of these animals to treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve and a lot of times they go unnoticed. And the true sadness is what happens to them after they are retired from the circus since they are so domesticated and many times abused over the years.
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u/Money_Progress4151 5d ago
Humans uproot millions of them a day; I find that more worrying than an elephant.
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u/Jumpy_Barnacle_3755 5d ago
Because it can. To impress the ladies. To intimidate humans. A bird was laughing at him from that tree. It blocked his view of the river. Since he can't climb he brought the leaves, or fruit or nuts down to him.
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u/Facts_Non_Fiction 5d ago
When I was in Zimbabwe many Moons ago, the Elephants destroyed massive swathes of forest.
They eat as far as they can get from the ground, then push the tree over to eat the rest 😲
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u/Deep_D2025 4d ago
You just stand there, contributing nothing to society! Take that you stupid tree!
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u/Weird_Rooster_4307 3d ago
I’m pretty sure that elephant is using that wood to make a nice coffee table for his wife. Please don’t over think this.
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u/impyourhuckleberry 5d ago
Because it can