I was driving through Delavan…

… a smallish town in southwest Wisconsin, midway between Chicago and Madison. I drove past something so unexpected that I went around the block and parked just to be able to take this picture.

To set the context, I’d been driving through lots of farmland, and then on several lakeshores. On the road are the usual things (corn fields, tractors, bales of hay, pontoon boats on lakes, people fishing on bridges), but then I spotted this life-size statue of an elephant rearing up, threatening a clown.

This made me look twice and take the pic, and it leads to the following SearchResearch Challenge:

1. What’s the story here? Why is there an elephant in the middle of small-town Wisconsin? Really? I did a little digging and my mind is boggled. Can any of this be true?

Go ahead, dig into the backstory here and let us know what you find.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: How did you validate the story you found? Is is possible to get to a clear / credible / valid version of this story?

Search on!

Idea credit to Meredith Lowe, who first mentioned elephants in Wisconsin to me over coffee in Delavan. Thanks!