Are you getting in the Halloween spirit yet? Well, it's less than a week away now, so you're going to be seeing more and more spooky decorations around as everyone gets taken over by the spirit of the holiday. It's such a popular holiday, that it looks like elephants are getting in on the fun too.
Oregon Zoo in Portland has a series of Halloween events this month, kicked off by an annual tradition called the 'Squishing of the Squash'. More than 5,000 people attended this year, and on October 19 these crowds got to watch the zoo's six Asian elephants stomp all over some gigantic pumpkins.
"The tradition goes back at least to 1999, when Hoffman's Dairy Garden of Canby dropped off a prize-winning 828-pound pumpkin for the Asian elephants," zoo spokesperson Hova Najarian told Gizmodo. "Local farmers would often donate their overstock Halloween pumpkins for use in the zoo's then-groundbreaking, now world-renowned, environmental enrichment program."
You've just got to check it out:
Isn't it just so strangely satisfying to watch?? This start of their 'Howloween' celebrations went down a treat, and now they're onto other activities, such as a scavenger hunt later this month.
"Thanks to giant pumpkin grower Larry Nelson, the elephant family had a very gourd time this morning," read the caption to the Facebook video - with the punnery doing something to help it amass over 370,000 views.
