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Elephant is just one of the family
By JOY STILLEY “And there’s no such thing as
AP Newsfeatures Writer a tame animal in my estima-
NEW YORK (AP) — The tion,” he adds, “because when
commercials featuring animals you say tame you mean it will
may last just 60 seconds on the never hurt you, and there’s al*
television screen, but weeks of ways that one time.”
patient work go into preparing “Animals have no voice to
the stars for their brief roles. tell you if they’re overtired,
For example, the polished overheated, overworked, and
performance of the handsome they can strike out,” explains
stag who does his thing for the Liz.
insurance company or of the “Still,” interjects Earl, “they
Kodiak bear in the beer ads is have quite a vocabulary. They
the result of training by Liz can say a lot with the flip of an
and Earl Hammond, who oper- ear, the flick of a whisker. It’s
ate an animal talent service a matter of reading body lan
from their Pennsylvania farm, guage.”
The Hammonds, who with The personality of the animal
Elizabeth Levy have just writ- is of major importance, and se
ten “Elephants in the Living lecting the right one is 90 per
Room, Bears in the Canoe,” cent of the job, agree the Ham
don’t use the words "trained” monds, both 40.
and “tame” in connection with
animals. “I like an outgoing animal,”
“I’ve never seen a trained says Liz. “The more gregarious
animal,” said the bearded animal will enjoy being the
Hammond in an interview, center of attention. One that’s
“They’re routined or condi- more introverted might do the
tioned. Every time you think job for you, but doesn’t enjoy
you have an animal that’s go- it.”
ing to do what you think he’s “It’s like picking a mate,”
going to do, he’ll make you out says Earl. “They’ll either help
a liar. you along if you make mistakes
iilWI Hi m 1
Joe Ahuna, Jr. performs the Fin Knife Dance. (AP)
Fire knife dancer
has rough name
PROVO, Utah (AP) - His
name is Joe Hoopomaikakealo
hoiokalanikanui Ahuna Jr., and
he performs the Samoan Fire
Knife Dance. Both pronouncing
his name and performing the
dance are very tricky business,
he admits.
“My Hawaiian name means
‘the brilliancy of the heavens is
bliss.’ Most people ask me how
long it took me to learn to
pronounce it,” explains Joe,
who now rattles it off with ease.
Joe performs the Fire Knife
Dance with equal dispatch for
Brigham Young University's
Sounds, a performing group
which has toured the United
States, Canada, Romania and
Bulgaria.
The dance of the hook knife -
0 Le Nifo Oti — was tradition
all y performed by the
“manaia” or son of a chief of
Samoa, and once signaled vic
tory at the end of a battle. To
day Samoans add fire to the
knives, calling for even more
skill and courage.
“It’s a dangerous dance, but
it’s a happy dance,” said Joe.
“And it’s very challenging. It’s
like facing the problems of the
world. If you can smile while
playing with fire, you can smile
though any problems.”
He learned the fire dance by
practicing eight hours a day,
six days a week, for two
months.
“People told me I couldn’t do
it, but I learned,” he says.
“There’s a Japanese saying,
whatever you can dream, you
can do. And I did learn the
dance.”
After a six-month engage
ment performing at Kahoshima
Resort Hotel in Japan in 1974,
Joe was lauded by critics as
one of the best performers of
the ancient and dangerous Sa
moan dance.
Joe also performs the in
tricate Navajo Hoop Dance
with the BYU Sounds, a dance
which requires great coordina
tion and skill.
“I learned it when I was per
forming with “Showcase
Hawaii,” sponsored by BYU
Hawaii, for a tour of the Ori
ent. An Indian performing with
the show taught me the Hoop
Dance, and I taught him the
Fire Knife Dance,” said the
performer.
A prelaw student at Brigham
Young University, Joe served a
mission to Hokkaido, Japan, for
the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. He plans
eventually to go into inter
national law.
The 22-year-old student is
used to the show business
world. His father works for
“Hawaii 5-0,” which is filmed
in Hawaii.
How long did it take Joe to
learn to pronounce his name?
“Twenty-one years,” he says.
or if you pick the wrong one it
will play upon those mis
takes.”
The conditioning process is
slow — “if you caine out and
watched you’d think we were
doing nothing, but a lot of it is
the waiting game.” In their
training the couple uses food
rewards or, for some animals,
just affection.
The Hammonds often turn
down commercials because
they believe “there are certain
things an animal should not be
asked to do that would impose
on their dignity, patience or
personality.”
The Hammonds work togeth
er — “It’s more fun that way”
— except with the 800-pound
bear, which Liz admits to being
afraid of. She’s afraid of other
people’s elephants, too, which
she points out are “large and
potentially dangerous,” but her
own Mignon has always been
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one <?f the family.
“She was two months old
when we got her, and weighed
about 150 pounds. She was
smaller than a greyhound and
her trunk was like a wet
noodle,” she recalls of the now
2,000-pound elephant that spent
its first year and a half in the
Hammonds’ living room.
Mignon slept on a mattress
covered with sheets that were
changed daily and sat in a
rocker to watch television,
which she learned to turn on
with her trunk.
“It was an incredible adven
ture,” Liz says. “Things we
never thought possible were
done. She learned to control her
elephant impulses, not breaking
things, not crashing through
things. We even housebroke
her, training her to use a buck
et and to rattle the handle
when she had to go.”
In addition to Mignon;
Moose, the red deer stag; and
Sasha, the bear with whom
Earl has appeared as a rugged
outdoorsman in beer com
mercials, the Hammonds have
a number of other exotic ani
mals on their Tioga, Pa., 550-
acre farm.
The blond, soft-spoken Earl’s
parents were animal trainers,
but dark-haired vivacious Liz
grew up in New York City. She
was always fascinated by ani
mals, and started handling
them in the theater.
The Hammonds, who have
daughters 15, 10 and 3, and an
18-year-old son, plan to produce
fu 1 Llength wildlife feature
films, using their own and oth
er animals.
“But eventually,” says Earl,
“we have hopes of being able
to put our energies and abilities
to work in the propagation and
rehabilitation of endangered
North American animals.”
Page 19
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Mignon the elephant, Luther Owl, Liz, Buster Brown the dog, daughter Jenny, Robert
Bobcat and Dandelion the lion pose for portrait. (AP)
— Griffin Daily News Thursday, September 22, 1977