Zoo Animals Smashing and Eating Pumpkins Is a Fall Delight

Fall is so much more than spooky fare. We love a little scare but we also love pumpkins, leaves, hot beverages, and all the other feel good things of the season. Blankets, cool air (depending on where you live), and fair food… give it all to us. (Or, specifically, me. I want it.) And humans aren’t the only ones who like a special treat this time of year. Animals also enjoy a fun fall snack too, especially those at Oregon Zoo. The employees have been giving the zoo’s residents a taste of pumpkins this October and they are enjoying it in different ways.

First, there’s the elephants. Of course, their pumpkins are huge enough for them to smash. A YouTube clip shows them bursting them open, shoveling them around with their trunks, and getting a taste of the large gourds. Elephants are truly amazing, intelligent, and wonderful creatures. It’s sort of soothing (and very cute) to watch them have a ton of fun. And it’s a great escape for us to watch, a break from all the dumpster fire stuff in the world.

Another clip shows one of my favorite beavers eating a pumpkin. It appears to be Maple because, well, her partner Filbert is bigger than her. He’s probably busy being the best Branch Manager of the world. There’s also a cute red panda, a black bear, a host of goats, a porcupine, a tortoise, and even a giraffe among other animals having fun with pumpkins.

an elephant kneels and smashes a large pumpkin with his trunk

Oregon Zoo

They are all incredibly different animals but they share a similar passion for food. It’s not too different from how us humans have those common bonds. It’s pretty hard to not love food. So there you have it… your cute thing for today. May you get as much joy from these clips as the animals seem to have with their pumpkin treats.

Top Stories
More by Tai Gooden
Trending Topics