Every year the Ringling Bros. Circus comes to town, and every year they walk their elephants from a railroad car somewhere behind the MIT campus to TD North Garden along the streets of Cambridge and Boston. I have heard different theories. Some say that it is an old tradition and a way for the circus to announce their arrival into the city. Perhaps once upon a time that was true. However, the parade is not publicized, does not involve anyone but elephants and their caretakers, and seems to be conducted as quickly as possible.
So the theory I prefer to believe is that there is no way to get the special train cars that elephants travel in up to TD North Garden, and so the animals have to make the last ½ mile of the journey on foot. This theory would also explain why a similar parade happens when the circus is leaving town.
Nick and I arrived at the intersection of Mass Ave and Memorial Drive just as the police was gathering there, preparing to close the streets. There was no crowd, but a few curious bystanders. In just a few minutes, we saw a slow moving lead vehicle and elephants walking behind it!
There were 6 Asian elephants—5 adults and one baby (or at least a juvenile). All but the lead elephant were holding on to the tail of the elephant in front of them. The baby elephant let go of the tail in front of him quite a bit, but the extra trainer walking next to him kept encouraging him to hold on.
I walked next to the last elephant in the procession for a little bit, and it was having some tail issues as well. The elephant in front of it really wanted to use its tail to swat its own back. But every time the elephant in the front pulled out its tail to do that, the elephant behind him grabbed on to it again. It was rather amusing to watch.
The elephant procession came and went very quickly. Even though the whole spectacle lasted no more than 10 minutes, it left me feeling giddy for the rest of the day. Elephants!
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