Ever wonder how they keep elephants in the circus under control?  I was walking by a huge elephant tied to a small post in the ground with a rope around its ankle and thought, “An animal that size has got to be able to just pop that stick out of the ground.”  I spoke to one of the trainers and discovered that, when first training a wild elephant, the wranglers will put a heavy chain around its ankle and tie it to a large metal post secured to the ground.  The chain and post are so big that even a full-grown elephant can’t escape.  The elephant tries for weeks to escape, but can’t budge the chain and post.  After a number of weeks the elephant realizes that it’s attempts are futile and it stops pulling.  The trainers then switch to a smaller chain and a smaller post. 

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