A young female elephant. Mud was abandoned by her birth family, the She-M's, as an infant, and was taken in by a somewhat reluctant She-S family. Although she is able to have visions of future events, and current events taking place elsewhere, she is rather sullen and antisocial and is only readily accepted by several members of the She-S's. Recently impregnated for the first time, Mud is shown trying to come to terms with her pregnancy in the middle of a drought and her feelings of alienation in her adoptive family throughout. As the story progresses, she finds herself needing to become hard-hearted and willing to make sacrifices as she becomes more and more concerned with finding the Safe Place, while her companions remain focused on finding a missing elephant, Date Bed, and lose willpower, becoming emaciated and hopeless. Her emotional abandonment of Date Bed is one of the turning points in the novel.