Elephants don’t work for peanuts

Coral Wilson

Elephants Dixie and Kitty enjoy visiting the Orange County Fair for

two simple reasons -- cinnamon rolls and candy apples.

“Their life revolves around food, and that’s all they care about,”

said Keith Jones, elephant handler and caretaker.

Taking fairgoers on rides is one way the elephants earn their

living, Jones said. The seven elephants from Have Trunk Will Travel,

a Perris, Calif.-based ranch, generate their own income by giving

rides, doing shows and appearing in movies and commercials. Dixie and

Kitty, both even-tempered and gentle, were chosen to come to the

Orange County Fair this year.

“They support [the ranch] themselves,” Jones said. “They work like

responsible citizens.”

Jones’ stepfather was a well-known elephant trainer, so his family

grew up around elephants. His sister Kari Johnson and her husband,

Gary, started Have Trunk Will Travel, and now elephants are part of

the family.

“Once you start to do it, there’s nothing else more interesting,”

Kari Johnson said. “They grow on you. They are like family. You get

so attached to all of them.”

For many children at the fair, a short ride on an elephant is more

thrilling than a roller coaster. On Sunday, children replaced their

worried looks with a smile, once they were safely on the ground.

“That was fun,” Tiffany Makres, 5, said after her ride. “We got to

ride the elephant and it was wobbly.”

Jake Dawson, 12, said he was expecting the elephant to move

faster, while his 10-year-old brother, Luke Dawson, said he thought

elephants walked slower.

“I would like one as a pet if I could,” Luke said.

Adults rode the elephants, too. Michael O. Smith watched from the

ground while his friend, Mayii Valdivia, went for a ride.

“I’m a tough guy,” Smith said. “I don’t want to show my little kid

inside who really did want to go.”

Valdivia, who is visiting from the Philippines, said it was her

first time on an elephant.

“I thought it would be rough and it will move up and down and up

and down,” she said. “But it wasn’t. It was so safe.”

Caretaker Joanne Smith’s obsession with elephants started at a

fair in Pennsylvania when her parents won an elephant stuffed animal

and gave it to their 1-year-old daughter. Thirty-five years later,

that elephant still sits by Joanne Smith’s bed.

She collected all things elephant and pursued a career working

with them. Now she lives with Dixie and Kitty on the ranch. She said

the best part about her job is walking out the door everyday and

seeing the elephants.

Dixie and Kitty have their own young admirers who come to the fair

every year to visit their elephant friends and deliver special

treats, Jones said.

“It’s funny,” Joanne Smith said. “As a child, you don’t know what

it is that makes you drawn to something. And it makes you wonder.”

* CORAL WILSON is the news assistant and may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at coral.wilson@latimes.com.