Every year come Halloween time, the beautiful Asian elephants at the Oregon Zoo get to experience truly awesome: squashing and playing with gigantic pumpkins! At the zoo's annual "Squishing of the Squash," this elephant family stomped, smashed and munched their way through two gigantic pumpkins. Seeing as how easy it is for the elephants to pulverize the pumpkins, it's hard to believe these "gourdzillas" weigh upwards of 1,100 pounds.
The pumpkin-squashing is part of an animal enrichment program that keeps the elephants physically and mentally stimulated while they also enjoy a physical activity. As you can see, they have a great time smashing those pumpkins to bits and pieces — and the lucky bystanders are delighted to watch them have so much fun. "They're exhibiting very natural behaviors … and it lets them express themselves. You'll see the young ones throwing the food around, you'll see the older ones standing there calmly, eating everything they can."
I especially love how the baby elephant collapses onto the pumpkins, rolling around and hogging them all to himself. As one YouTube commenter says, "How can anyone not adore these beautiful, intelligent, playful and gentle creatures who exude such personality?"
Please enjoy this adorable video (because how could you not) and please SHARE it with your friends on Facebook!
