Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Donkey Gifts
Donkeys are very intelligent creatures who can be curious, yet cautious, and playful. Alastair, shown here at 7 months, enjoys stealing gloves if they are not on your hands. He will then wave the glove at you or at our other donkey, Nathan, in hopes of enticing you to play. Playing, to him, means grabbing a section of glove and pulling. He will then walk with you all around the pasture. If you let go, he will wave it at you again and occasionally toss his head and drag the glove along the ground.
For those of you who wonder how well donkeys fair in cold weather, they do very well. Their coats grow quite thick, and it's simply amazing how much body heat they can produce. We live in northern New Hampshire where temperatures have plummeted to near 40 below zero; they both did great . . . of course, their barn is 12' x 12' and the loft is only 5.5 feet off the ground. The loft is full of hay and we give them tons of hay in which to lay. With temps 20+ below zero, we keep them in the barn. In warmer temperatures, and during the day (they are put in the barn at night) they are free to enter or leave the barn as they wish.
