FARMINGTON — It was a unique complaint for Farmington police: A report of camels eating the trees on Lower High Street on Monday morning, Rachel Heseltine, Police Department secretary, said.
Setting up in the ball field across from the Farmington Fairgrounds, a crew for the Walker International Events’ presentation of Circus Circus worked quickly to put up the big-top tent for two Monday shows while the camels and horses rested.
After arriving early Sunday from shows in Camden, the camels were grazing closer to the fence and decided to munch on the green leaves of a couple trees, owner Sashi Meluzzi said.
Meluzzi promised police she wouldn’t let the animals return to the area of the town-owned trees, she said as she petted and kissed the calm, oblivious animals.
“These are the new elephants,” she said. “They do pretty much everything the elephants do. They’re not as big and maybe not as smart but they are very loving.”
Sheik, a 4-year-old camel, watched Meluzzi intensely as she talked and planted a kiss on his muzzle.
“He’s a big puppy dog,” she added.
It’s a life of constant travel for the 30 employees and animals that are all part of the family-owned circus that began in the early 1990s. Seven days a week, from January through November, they travel, set up and tear down, mostly providing shows in New England and along the East Coast, she said.
After providing shows along coastal Maine and in Farmington, the circus moves to Oxford Fairgrounds on Pottle Road for two shows on Tuesday and then to New Hampshire, she said.
It’s a life Meluzzi has always known.
An eighth-generation performer herself, her relatives, the Zacchini family, came from Europe to perform for Ringling Brothers shows. They developed the human cannonball, with Meluzzi’s grandmother the first to be launched, according to the Walker International Events’ website.
Meluzzi started performing at age 13, first as an aerialist. Her passion for animals led her to performing with her horse and collecting other animals, she said. They used to have elephants but they are now harder to get, she said.
She acquired the two camels, Sheik, 4, and Marcon, 5, from an animal facility in Tennessee. Her stepfather is well-known for training elephants and helped her develop a performance with the camels, she said. She also provides a petting zoo and guides rides on the animals prior to the circus show.
The camels normally enjoy a diet of grass, hay, grain and carrots. For some reason, they found the trees just too appealing, she said with a chuckle.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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- Sashi Meluzzi of Walker International Events’ Circus Circus talks about her camels and horses, part of the Monday shows in Farmington.
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- Sashi Meluzzi, owner and trainer of camels, Marcon, left, and Sheik, right, checks the animals as they rest Monday morning prior to two shows of Walker International Events’ Circus Circus on Lower High Street in Farmington.
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- Sashi Meluzzi gives Sheik, a 4-year-old camel, a kiss Monday as the animals rest before two Monday shows of Walker International Events’ Circus Circus in Farmington.
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- Marcon, left, and Sheik, right, rest in the lower High Street ball field in Farmington on Monday prior to evening circus performances.
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