As a final end to the circus debate (hopefully ?) thought if anyone wanted to read about the reality of the old (1930's) kind of circus in the USA, there is a terrific novel - top of the best seller lists for many months - "Water for Elephants". Yes, no ferrets in the book, but the author's husband had three when they first married - so I took the liberty of recommending this fascinating story by Sara Gruen. There are some bad things in the book - done by humans of course - but the humans get their just deserts. Gruen did a huge amount of research on real performing elephants and the circus performers of the 1930's. She began being interested in traveling circuses when she bought two old books of old time travelling circus photographs. And the elephant in the book - Rosie - (Gruen says in an afterword interview in the book) - is based on real elephants in American zoos. She mentions in the afterword two real elephants of note in circus life - one of which "Old Mom" was considered stupid after she was purchased from a trainer who said she was the smartest elephant he had ever had. The new owners were dismayed to find she would not respond to commands, only to find out she only understood German. Once she was taught English, she did fine and had "an illustrious career" dying at 80 "surrounded by her friends and fellow troupers". The "narrator" is a young guy who leaves vet school because his parents have financial problems and - spur of a moment - joins a travelling circus. Sara Gruen visited zoos and circuses to talk to elephant handlers - since Rosie the elephant has such a pivotal role in the story. For those worried about bad endings - bit of a spoiler here - Rosie has a happy ending. Meryl [Posted in FML 7019]