Emily The Elephant Tries Her Hand, Or Trunk, At A Drum Solo

Even animals need hobbies, so Emily the elephant is learning to play the drums! This Buttonwood Park Zoo resident was inspired by a visit from a professional drummer. When he performed a drum solo outside her enclosure, Emily was absolutely enraptured by the sound. She just had to give it a try!

In an adorable video on social media, Emily the elephant started hitting the instrument with her trunk. Jon, the drummer, thought this was too cute!

Obviously, the next step in Emily the elephant’s musical education was to hand her a drumstick. So, in another clip, Jon gave her one of his. At first, she didn’t know quite what to do with the object. Although she did grab it with her trunk, she ended up dropping it outside her enclosure with disinterest.

However, Jon wasn’t ready to give up on the animal. He stopped by for another visit, and this time the lesson was far more productive. Emily the elephant not only held onto the drumstick, but started beating the drum! Of course, she still didn’t quite get the hang of how the instrument was supposed to work. Even though she was holding the stick, she couldn’t figure out how to use it to strike the drum. Instead, she just used her trunk. It was still a big step forward, though!

Once Emily the elephant was done with her drum solo, she carefully returned the drumstick back to Jon. He thought this gesture was too sweet!

“Thank you,” he told the elephant. “That was so polite.”

Commenters fell in love with Emily’s adorable antics. They were floored by how quickly she figured out how to get sound out of the drum.

“They are so beautiful and intelligent,” wrote one user.

Another added, “Not to be dramatic, but I would positively perish for Emily.”

We hope that Emily the elephant continues her drum lessons. She certainly has a knack for picking up instruments!

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.