EVERETT — The circus came to town Tuesday morning, albeit quietly.
Eleven elephants from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum &Bailey Circus, despite their hefty size and weighing up to 10,000 pounds, moved along quietly along downtown Everett streets, walking so softly it was almost as if they were wearing slippers.
They debarked from the circus train near 34th Street and Hill Avenue, then moved down Pacific Avenue and on to Comcast Arena.
The area where the circus train was parked is surrounded by small industrial businesses.
Employees gathered outside the buildings near the sidewalk to watch the elephant parade.
Ruth Watts, from Everett, recorded the elephant walk on her cell phone’s video camera.
“This is so cool,” she exclaimed.
Nearby, Chris Wold and other employees of a door manufacturing company walked into the late morning sunlight to catch a glimpse of the elephants.
“It’s fun,” he said, grinning.
When the animals arrived at the arena, they caused drivers and people walking nearby to crane their necks to get a longer look, but this year there were no protesters.
Circus shows begin Thursday and continue through Sunday.
Last year, a nearly naked woman, representing the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, painted her body bright orange with black tiger stripes and crawled into a cage in downtown Everett to protest the circus the week before its arrival.
The circus didn’t change the timing of its arrival notice this year to avoid protesters, said Julie Furlong, a circus spokeswoman.
The only difference this year was that the circus train arrived on schedule, just after 11 a.m. Tuesday. Last year, it was delayed several hours.
Libby Morris, the circus’ 29-year-old elephant trainer, said that the animals are both well treated and well fed, gobbling down 150 to 200 pounds of food a day.
Their diet includes fruits, vegetables and hay, she said. And in each town the circus visits, they order 550 fresh loaves of bread for the animals.
Morris, who grew up in a circus family, said she is the first woman in the circus’ history to be an elephant trainer. The elephants range in age from 12 to 52 years old.
“I love elephants,” she said. “They have a lot of personality.”
Many of the routines the elephants perform during the circus grow out of interests they display during their off-hour play time, she said.
This includes the youngster, 12-year Angelica, who likes to play with soccer balls, basketballs — and even uses a paint brush.
When the elephants walk down a street on their way to an arena, she said she gives commands to Asia, the lead elephant, such as “come here” to indicate a move to the left and “get over” to move right.
The animals respond to about 50 commands, she said.
And they’re multilingual. Due to previous trainers they’ve worked with, they can respond to commands in French, German and English, Morris said.
“They’re very smart and intelligent animals,” she said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com.
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