Sometimes A Quirky Job Is Just That

Stories that sound like they’re going to be a lot more interesting than they actually are include the dude who vacuums the stuffed animals at the Museum of Natural History:

The hydraulic lift lurched up, bringing the back of an African elephant into full view. To Mike Peter Smith, who was cleaning the elephant yesterday, its spine took the form of a gently sloping mountain range with peaks behind the head and near the rear legs.

The elephant remained motionless as Mr. Smith surveyed the dust that had collected on its broad back.

“It is basically just vacuuming the elephant like a carpet,” he said of his job. “But it’s really delicate at the same time.”

That stuffed elephant and seven others at the American Museum of Natural History were getting their annual cleaning, a ritual that is repeated at least once a year for every bird, dinosaur, mammal and fish that is not behind glass in the museum’s collection. Of the 30 million specimens belonging to the museum, about 300,000 are displayed at one time. Standing on his perch about eight feet off the floor, Mr. Smith started behind the left ear. With one hand, he whisked a soft round brush across the deeply grooved wrinkles, leaving no space untouched. Blue lint balled up and cascaded down, before disappearing into the humming vacuum, which he guided through the air with the other hand. “I have to be really careful,” he said. To avoid tearing the fragile hide, he pushed the dust toward the vacuum’s extension with the brush, rather than sliding the wand directly against the skin.

On the flat of the back, below the front left shoulder, there was so much dust that his strokes left the leathery hide visibly darker.

After meticulous brushing, it appeared as if Mr. Smith were painting the elephant with varnish.

“I wonder if they do not look too clean when I am done, too polished,” he said. “In a couple of weeks, when the dust settles, it will look more natural.”

Location Scout: Akeley Hall of African Mammals.