The Wonders of Pachy Poo

Probably one of the least romantic aspects of the circus-life is the responsibility of having to clean-up after the animals, specifically, having to clean-up after the biggest stars under The World’s Biggest Big Top, those wonderful Ponderous Performing Pachyderms.

Imagine for a moment, a hot summer’s day, a shovel, three elephants and one giant pile of…you know what, if you really want you can fill in the mental picture, for the rest of us we’ll skip this visual and get down to the nitty gritty.

Elephants, both African and Asian, are the largest land mammals on Earth. Male elephants can weigh up to 15,000 pounds while females can weight up to 8,000 pounds. Males average a height of 10.5 ft. at the shoulder, while females average a height of 8 ft.

This season the Carson & Barnes Circus family will travel with three elephants: Isa, Libby and Bunny.

Each day, each elephant, produces 125 lbs. of poo.

Each of these elephants is capable of producing at least 4-5 cubic yards of, what the Carson & Barnes staff refers to as, Pachy Poo per day. Remember, that’s at least 4-5 cubic yards of poo, or 125 lbs of Pachy Poo per day per elephant. 125 lbs is the average weight of a 15-year old American male. Wowza.

So, what happens when the circus splits town and all that’s left are tire tracks and a mound of Pachy Poo?

More times than not that Pachy Poo is treated like a green thumb’s ”brown gold” and is extensively used by local commercial gardeners and nurseries and converted into compost or ground into mulch.

Manure, and thus, Pachy Poo, is the oldest and most effective soil fertilizer known to man.

Many gardening professionals consider fresh manure very valuable, mostly because it provides a safe and organic alternative to chemical fertilizers. On top of that, Pachy Poo, is considered very valuable not simply because of its quality but also because of the sheer quantity in which it is produced.

Compost improves the aeration of the soil and adds important micro-nutrients, such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium, that don’t usually come with many artificially produced fertilizers, while on the other hand mulch helps a garden retain moisture as well as blocking annoying weeds from growing.

If you’re an avid gardener or a friend of a local nursery make sure you contact your local sponsor before the Carson & Barnes Circus comes to your town to reserve your own pile of Pachy Poo.