Talk about a bunch of happy donkeys and Gizmo the mini mule..........!!! We were getting ready to go to Benson in the late afternoon and when we went out to get in the car, about a dozen assorted donkeys and Gizmo were right out by the pen area. So we decided to go open the gate, since we were pretty sure they would follow us if we headed in that direction. Sure enough, that's all it took, in fact Boaz was actually in front of John in the parade.
Of course in the back of our minds was the idea of getting them back over here after about 1 1/2 hours of wild freedom...........LOL We went to town, did our thing, and as soon as we got home, headed out each carrying a whip to whiz thru the air as incentive to make them know we meant it. Doug stayed in the pen area to put them in IF and WHEN we got them.
Actually since they hadn't been over there for awhile, it was pretty easy to track them all the tracks were new. We had split up, and they just happened to be in my direction. Sure enough their heads were down and they were eating as fast as they could. They knew I was there, but didn't bother to acknowledge me, until I threw a couple of rocks into the herd, yelled and started swinging my whip around viciously........!!! Talk about a mess...... donkeys took off at full speed, bucking and relieving gas from the beans they had eaten. They usually stay in a group and all of them headed straight for the gate......except for Tula, Quilla and Gizmo. Tula is usually the herd boss, but they were moving so fast I don't think they even knew she diverted and took those two with her. Doug said it was a good thing he wasn't standing in the gate or he would have been road kill, when they came thru......!!! LOL
So I had to find them again. One thing about eating mesquite beans, they make noise when chewed. Also Casper the other little mini mule that is staying at the neighbors, tattled when he saw them. Tula tried to go the wrong direction a couple of times, but finally gave up and headed for the gate.
Whew! I was wore out. I remember doing this just a few years ago, even running after them to make sure they knew I meant business. No running today, I even lost sight of them a couple of times, and was glad they didn't decide to really rebel.
We'll probably order the sand/gravel tomorrow for Penny's pen, so she can get out of the hay barn. She will stay in the pens, either hers or we will probably open them up when the others are out, so she can have more room, till about the 1st of November.
She has finally decided we aren't out to "get" her I guess. She's enjoying being brushed, always before she would squirm and get away if she could. Now she stands still as long as you will brush. She's also much better about her feet. She's never been really bad about picking them up for me, or letting me mess with her legs. Tyler, that trims her feet is another story. She absolutely refuses to cooperate for him at all and has taken a quick swipe at him with a rear foot more than once.
Everybody else is doing good, thank goodness the prickly pear fruits are almost all gone. Cisco wades right into the middle of them and eats all the fruit he can find. The fruit has tiny little spines on them and he ends up with them all in his mouth, nose, muzzle, not to mention in his legs where he's walked into the cactus pads, which have big spines. We try to pull them out, but the numbers are overwhelming. Sha'ba use to do the same thing. What gets me is they can still eat hay and mush, not to mention animal crackers, but you have to be careful feeding them crackers or you'll be picking spines out of your hand. There's very few prickly pear in Burroland, thank goodness, so I think he's about done with this particular entertainment until next year.
YUMMY......!!!
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