From Richard Reynolds #3

!cid_3_1649634024@web121802_mail_ne1_yahoo, a photo by bucklesw1 on Flickr. These shows did not feature "giants " at all, rather they were the common coypu or nutria from South America - - somewhat similar to our own muskrat. As you know they are only about 2 ft in length and weigh but 20 pounds. They have now been distributed world wide from the US to Russia and most points in between. They were once commercially attractive but have now become pests, one of our most damaging invasive species. Their meat is said to be quite tasty, however. The late Chuck Meltzer, onetime San Diego zoo keeper, wrote about them in his paper "The Giant Rat Shows," BW, S/O 1998. And, he said he had eaten the meat. Obviously, the coypu does not compare in size to the real giant rat, the aforesaid capybara, like that of Ms Vidbel. Your idea about using smaller mammals is worth considering. So far, the animal antis have overlooked them preferring to concentrate on the large marquee types. The idea for otters is neat. They present a lovable personality and are great crowd pleasers. RBBB once had an otter that was kept in the moat around monkey island in the Sarasota winter quarters. Joe Bradbury took movies of it swimming there. I assume it was a common North American river otter. RBBB never took it on the road. Sea World uses them in its sea lion and walrus shows. Now how about a Brazilian Giant otter? They can approach 6-ft in length. That is a size that would appeal to circuses. However, it is rather rare in captivity and is on the endangered species list making its use by circuses likely prohibited. One of the neatest small mammal acts ever was (or is ) on Circo Roncalli, a fox and ferrets, like so - - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB0jml3iLBc You once told me of an act using lesser pandas, now preferably called "red" pandas. That's one I wish I'd seen. Wasn't there a chap named Sotani in Japan who saw the act and photographed it there? Richard