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Post by staceyinoregon on Jan 2, 2008 18:41:36 GMT -5
These people are working very hard to solve a difficult and deadly problem for wild burros in Texas. www.donkeyrescue.org/Please take a look at their website. If you can help, please do. |
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Post by lindaf on Jan 2, 2008 20:05:29 GMT -5
Hi Stacey,
I had my first day volunteering at the Odessa, TX satellite of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue. PVDR is the group coordinating the Big Bend roundup and relocation of the burros. The lady in charge of where I volunteered today is going down to help. I hope that I will be able to help with this effort. I'm working on being able to go along. I hope to talk to the head of PVER when he comes to town soon. My job is to socialize, groom, work with feet, etc. to get 4 donkeys here ready for him to take to a new home.
Linda
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Post by staceyinoregon on Jan 3, 2008 19:14:04 GMT -5
ahhh your on donkey scratching duty. I like it. So do they it seems, they really want to develop a relationship before they start doing all those weird things humans want them to do. Good luck and thanks for what you are doing.
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Post by lindaf on Jan 3, 2008 21:03:12 GMT -5
It was really cute with the 2 BLM burros. They were friendly across the bars of the pen, but once I was inside, they weren't too keen about my handling them, and they kept moving just out of reach. So I turned my back to them, "ignoring" them. By and by, I noticed this burro butt slowly side stepping my way until it was right next to me. There we stood, facing opposite directions side by side. I could rest my arm on his back and scratch his butt, but only as long as we didn't look at each other. It was funny.
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Post by lindad on Jan 4, 2008 11:46:33 GMT -5
Linda,
I had no idea how fun burros were until my daughter rescued a miniature donkey from a neighbor and gave him to us last summer. Their kids had outgrown him and he was being negleted and they were going to put him down, because he has white line disease. We are friends with our donkey rescue and Lisa took him to Mi State University when the rescue took in new donks and all of the vets and techs wanted to take Cola home. We will be going again next week.
Coke-a-Cola is such a little buddy and his little heart is broken if he isn't hanging out with us when we are outside. He lets out the most pitiful hee-haw. If he is PO'd he adds a couple of snorts to the end of the hee-haw. When he was sheding out he would go into the stable and bring us the wire curry to groom him. They are smart little buggers.
Cola will put his butt up to mine when I am working and not paying enough attention to him. He takes my tools and appears to try to use them. He tries every way he can to push my wheel barrow. I bet it won't belong before you adopt two! Cola has always resided with horses so he is guite content without another longear for company. He and Chica are best buddies, and he loves to play with Bolero along the fence. They give each other a good work out and then he lets Bo groom his back.
Linda D
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Post by lindaf on Jan 4, 2008 14:52:26 GMT -5
Linda, please don't tempt me more than I already am! I still have my cute little gray yarn burro I received as a child decades ago. I've always wanted one. But I board and can't afford another equine now. BUT someday!....
Actually, my friend whom I board with is interested in donkeys. I'm going to take her over to the rescue with me. Sneaky, huh. Maybe she'll get us some.
Thanks for the cute story about Cola. It made me smile.
Linda
PS: Do you bathe donkeys? These little guys are really dusty way down to the skin, and they are always rolling in the dirt . Do you use coat conditioners or just groom them well and make sure their nutrition is good?
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Post by lindad on Jan 4, 2008 22:12:45 GMT -5
Linda,
Gosh I don't know about bathing. He roles so often I doubt it would make much difference, as do my daughter's Zonkeys. They dug themselves a spot to roll where there was sand. Cola loves to be brushed, so he gets plenty of that. Unless my horses are participating in a special event I don't use many special preparations or bathe excessively. A nice bath when they come home sweaty, feels good but then they roll asap.
I do know that donkeys do not have undercoat that horses have that traps air. When donkeys get wet they get wet to the skin and have difficulty staying warm. They evolved in arid parts of the world. The rain sheds off of healthy horses with a good coat (unless you live in the Pacific NW and is rains continuously), so horses stay dry underneath even when they are wet. Cola really gets WET.
I have been hunting for a waterproof sheet for him for rainy winter days. He has tons of coat to keep him warm except if he gets wet. Mini blankets are not long enough. He is about 36 inches tall, but their bodies are longer than a miniature horse.
Linda D
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Post by lindaf on Jan 5, 2008 0:07:46 GMT -5
You may have to alter one that that you buy long enought to fit him. An Internet search didn't help at all for donkey-size sheets. I suspect that regular brushing will bring oils to the surface of the coat and help water-proof them.
Do they have little slits of nostrils so they can close them up and block the dirt during wind storms?
L F
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