We all occasionally dream of running off to join the circus. Well, Larry Carden didn't have to dream. He was born into one! Carden took some time from his busy schedule traveling with the George Carden Circus, International (started by his father) to answer our questions about being an elephant trainer.
Name: Larry Carden
Age: 29
Job title: Elephant Trainer
What do you do?
My father owns 10 elephants. I work with all of them but when I'm on the road I work with four. I grew up around elephants and have been training them for 12 years -- as did my father before me and his father before him.
What is it like to work with elephants?
Taking care of an elephant is a 24-hour job. They are always eating and pooping, so I am always on one end or the other. They also get washed with soap and water every day, up to three times a day. Along with that, if they aren't performing I train them every day. They are just like people with their personalities and they have different moods depending on the day.
What's the best thing about your job?
I get to see the U.S and perform for thousands of people a day, Best of all, I get to spend my time with my best friends the elephants Betty, Cindy, Vicky and Bo.
Do you have any advice to aspiring elephant trainers?
To someone who wants to train elephants: Start learning all you can about them and try to get around them. The more time you spend with them, the more they get to know you. All elephant trainers start at the back and work their way to the front.
See more photos of Larry and the George Carden Circus.
Posts tagged "elephant"
Motala's permanent proshtetic leg. Photo: Apichart Weerawong, AP
Ten years ago, an elephant working in an illegal Thai logging camp near the Burmese/Myanmar border stepped on one of the many landmines still buried in the area. As a result, she had to have her left front foot amputated. The surgery required a world record-setting amount of anesthetic drugs -- enough for 70 grown men. According to JodysJungle.com, the resulting wounds took so long to heal that the initial prosthetic leg planned for Motala wasn't able to be used.
On August 15, the 48-year-old, three-ton elephant (who is a resident of the world's only elephant hospital set up by Friends of the Asian Elephant, or FAE) was fitted with a new, permanent prosthetic leg, reports the Associated Press. Motala's first walk with the new leg lasted about 10 minutes and she celebrated by tossing dirt in the air.
Motala isn't the first elephant to receive a prosthetic leg. Another resident of FAE's elephant hospital, Mosha, took that title two years ago as a baby. Soraida Salwala, Founder and Secretary General of FAE, told Paw Nation that she is pleased with Motala's progress, saying it's a good sign that she's already putting weight on the new leg. Motala has been wearing a temporary prosthetic for the last three years to prepare her for the permanent prosthesis.
Baby Mosha shows off her prosthetic leg. Photo: Apichart Weerawong, AP
The Prostheses Foundation, a company that also makes artificial limbs for humans, provided the artificial limbs for both elephants free of charge. But that doesn't mean it was easy to fit a three ton animal with a peg leg.
"The process of making [the prosthetic leg] was the same [for both elephants], but for Mosha, it was more difficult because she would not stay still," Salwala told Paw Nation. "We have already made three prosthetic legs for Mosha since June 2008, and many adjustments during the past 14months. For Motala, we prepared her well with the pre-prosthetic device, so when the big day finally came, she did not reject it and was happy to walk out of her shelter dusting and eating grass as normal." A video of Motala walking on her new leg after the jump.
We hope both gigantic tripods continue to move forward at a steady pace.
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Talk about being in a tight spot.
A baby elephant became wedged in a manhole in Eastern Thailand after falling into a drainage ditch. News.com.au reports the poor pachyderm was awkwardly trapped with his head and two front feet pointing skyward. Try as he might, he couldn't wrestle himself out of the narrow opening.
Rescuers tried for three hours to free the baby elephant, eventually bringing in a bulldozer to widen the hole in order to pull the frightened animal to safety. He escaped from the ditch unharmed.
The elephant reportedly landed in the hole while out working with his trainer in Rayong province. Elephants are a common sight on Thai streets, where they haul heavy loads and are made to perform tricks for passers-by. Cruelty concerns have reportedly led to such elephant displays being outlawed in some areas of Thailand. Let's hope, for this little guy's sake, that more such laws will be passed throughout the country.
In the meantime, we expect this little tusker will take care to watch his step from now on. After all, an elephant never forgets.
Our furry, feathered and scaly friends come in all shapes and sizes, and so do their sniffers. From squashed and wrinkled to big and bulbous, these snouts are sure to garner a double take. Sure it's impolite to stare, but with schnozzes like these, who can blame you?
Animal Noses
The star-nosed mole is native to eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. If you've never seen one, don't be surprised; these critters spend most of their time digging underground tunnels. They use their wacky tentacled noses as feelers to find tasty worms and insects in the darkness.
Kenneth Catania, Vanderbilt University / AP
The proboscis monkey swings through the trees of Borneo. Only males have the huge honker, which can reach up to 7 inches in length. The exaggerated sniffer actually attracts females, 'cause you know what they say about big noses... good scents!
Gerry Ellis, Minden Pictures / Getty Images
The planet is home to more than 2 billion domestic pigs, not to mention a variety of ugly wild hogs and boars. Not very discriminating in their tastes, pigs use their superior senses of smell to scavenge for foods ranging from acorns to insects to rotting garbage.
Getty Images
The African aardvark gets its name from a word meaning "earth pig." The nosy, nocturnal mammals are all about hunting termites with their keen senses of smell. Aardvarks tear apart termite mounds with their claws before sticking in their snouts -- nostrils conveniently sealed -- to hoover up the bugs.
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Dog breeds like pugs and bulldogs are famous for their short, scrunched-up noses -- and for the epic snores that bellow from their nostrils. These flattened faces can cause breathing problems that sometimes need to be corrected by surgery.
jupiterimages
We've all seen elephants, but how often do you stop to think about how ridiculous the pachyderm's nose really is? The tubular trunk is part nose, part upper lip, and part extra hand. The gigantic Asian and African mammals use their trunks to maneuver small objects, itch their backs, wipe their eyes, knock down trees and take long, cold drinks from the watering hole. Talk about multitasking!
Getty Images
Elephant seals -- and their unmistakable schnozzes -- are found in oceans the world over. Only adult males sport the bulbous noses, which help them produce ear piercingly loud roars. The big noses also help trap water, effectively preventing moisture loss during mating season when the males rarely leave the beach for food or water.
jupiterimages
The impressive horn of the rhinoceros is formed from keratin, the stuff of hair and fingernails. The brutish beasts are native to Africa and Asia. In China, rhinos are hunted for their horns, which are ground up and prescribed in traditional Chinese medicine.
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Why the long face? Long-nosed dogs like dachshunds exist on the opposite end of the spectrum from pugs and bulldogs. Bred for hunting badgers and rabbits, their long noses impart them with a stupendous sense of smell.
Getty Images
The elephant shrew isn't really a shrew. After years of classification confusion, scientists now say the petite African mammals aren't closely related to any living animals. They're actually very distant relatives of aardvarks, hyraxes, manatees and, yes, elephants. They use their stretched-out snouts to probe the forest floor for bugs and spiders to eat.
Jessie Cohen, National Zoo / AP
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