Misty's New Adventure
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

FROM

The Elephant Sanctuary
June 2014

This fall, we’ll celebrate Misty's ten-year anniversary at Sanctuary. She and all of the other elephants continually demonstrate that even aging elephants are capable of claiming new experiences, adapting to their surroundings, and seeking inventive ways to interact with their physical and mental environment.

Most of June 11th was not unlike other days at the Asia Barn and Habitat: elephants grazing and resting in the shade, treating themselves to trunk showers, maybe a dust bath here or there, and caregivers busily ferrying hay out into the habitat to supplement the Girls’ natural forage. Nothing much out of the ordinary.

Late in the afternoon, though, Caregivers entered the habitat to deliver hay to Tarra and Shirley, who had spent the day near The Sanctuary’s 25-acre lake. Little did they know what they were about to witness: there was an elephant in the Turtle Pond Pasture adjoining the lake -- but not any of the usual suspects.

After nearly ten years at The Sanctuary…Misty was on the move.

Caregivers (and soon after, EleCam viewers) could scarcely believe what they were seeing: Misty was in an area of the habitat she’d never explored before, a mile-plus away from the Barn, where she's spent most of her time at Sanctuary. On this particular day, Misty appeared to want more.

Our spring-fed lake beckoned, and in she went.

She splashed around, dunked herself, and – true to Misty form – she grabbed a cat-nap on the muddy bank soon afterward.

Misty turns 50 this year -- a quinquagenarian! This fall, we’ll celebrate her ten-year anniversary at Sanctuary. She and all of the other elephants continually demonstrate that even aging elephants are capable of claiming new experiences, adapting to their surroundings, and seeking inventive ways to interact with their physical and mental environment.

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