Tuesday, June 23, 2009


It seems like right now we have a lot of bees, going after water. So far no one has gotten stung but I worry about someone gulping up one, which wouldn't be good. It's starting to get hotter & drier, so I assume the bees will keep coming. I spend a lot of time fishing them out of the water, unlike wasps I guess they can't land on the water.

Sha'ba & I are still fighting the battle of the habronema larvae on his sheath. We're down to 2 small areas, which is a piece of cake from my point of view. I clean him up in the morning, & cover the area with invermectin. At night I cover his sheath with swat, figure that will slow down reinfestation.

I was asked about his history. Everyone is doing pretty good right now, so I'll give a little background on him. He came off one of the local Indian Reservations, I don't know which one. A horse trader got a good deal, 5 donkeys, but she had to take them all. Four of them were young, healthy & wild as march hares. We got a call about the 5th one. She said he was crippled, blind & there was no way she could re-sell him, would we take him? We said yes, & drove to Tucson to pick him up. He was in much worse condition than we expected. He was a small standard, should have weighed around 300 pounds, probably weighed 200 or less. About half his ears had been cut off, he had an old break at a rear fetlock. His eyes were so matted & infected we also thought he was blind. His face was raw & bloody from flies & habaronema larvae. He had a hole thru his nose that lines up with scars on his mouth, where someone had ran a chain, rope, bull ring or something thru to lead him or tie him up. I don't think I have ever seen a more pathetic sight. He had been in with 4 young strong animals & I have no idea how long it had been since he had eaten well. We were told he was about 40 years old, but since he has very few teeth & those are completely worn down, I really don't know how old he is. We loaded him as gently as we could & didn't know if he would make the trip home, about 65 miles.

That has been 6 years ago. We cleaned him up I started agressively treating the habromena, which as above, I continue to do annually. When we got his eyes cleared up we were thrilled to find out that he does have sight in one eye. We made sure he had all he wanted to eat & found out that he will only eat so much. He seems to have a built in "I've had enough" trigger, so we don't have to worry about him getting fat.

He's my little Muffin Man, he was emotionally shut down, (wonder why) but once he came out of that, he is one of the most loveable donkeys there is. He also can be the most stubborn. Thank goodness he self trims his feet, even the one with the broken fetlock, which healed crooked. He might be little & he might be old, but two people & a cross tie can't control him enough for a foot trim.

He seems to be very healthy, after getting bit by a rattlesnake a few years ago, which was scary. He's probably actually more healthy than some of the others that were fed too much or too rich for years & have developed insulin resistance & have other problems. I think his leg was broke early in his life, perhaps his mother stepped on him or if they were in rough country, who knows what happened. I don't think he was ever worked, because he has no concept of people/donkey working relationships. At least normal ones. (G)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for giving what history you have on sha'ba. I am so glad the little fellow has such a good life now, he sure deserves it. I really enjoy your blog and check it most every day to see how the herd is doing. Thanks again.

Dina said...

Please give Sha'ba a hug for me.
What a story.

Tish said...

He's my worst story I think. Some of the others were in dire straights, & at the end of their options, but Sha'ba had absolutely nothing going for him. Over half of our animals would not be here, they were at the end of their lives, because of age, starvation, mistreatment & were going to be shot or hauled to auction if the owner thought they might be able to get a few bucks for them. I would imagine Sha'ba was ready to give up, his eyes, well his eye was dead, there was no sparkle or interest in it at all. I've always given him double treats, because I doubt that he ever had treats or if he did I'm sure they were few & far between. He is such a little survivor, & a very special little guy to me.

PaintedPromise said...

amazing! but isn't it awesome to see the spark return...

my Wiley was not in near that bad of shape but he is my "Eeyore", he did not know what scratches or love or treats were... it took a while to "educate" him but he is so much happier now than when he first arrived...

Tish said...

It's so neat when they realize they are safe & start to trust again. It's like a flower opening up, as they become involved in their surroundings.

I wish the mare you wrote about on your blog had gotten a chance. What a sad situation & I doubt if they will find the owner, probably won't even look.