But perhaps you would prefer a job working with animals? If so, you might consider a career as an elephant pedicurist. It may sound silly, but keeping elephants’ nails clean and trim is critical to their health. Like human nails, elephant nails grow continuously. Elephants in the wild wear down their nails naturally, but captive elephants have fewer opportunities to roam. Elephant pedicurists scrape the bottom of the elephants’ feet to get rid of calluses, dirt, and embedded rocks that can cause infection. They also trim, file, and shape the elephants’ nails. Mike Hayward, the elephant pedicurist for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus®, loves his job. He gives pedicures to his twelve elephants every five weeks. The elephants generally cooperate with Hayward, waiting patiently through the two-hour process. Says Hayward, “It’s almost like not going to work because the elephants are like my family.”