Saturday, December 1, 2007

Burros' day out


What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than watching burros chase each other around. It's been 6 weeks since George and Alan arrived; it was time to let them out of their small pen to enjoy the larger confines of the big corral. I was reasonably confident that I could convince them to return to their pen once play time was over, and they did not disappoint. I whistled them back and rewarded them with lunch. Repeated the exercise later in the afternoon and rewarded them with dinner.

Hank and Lyle can hear my whistle from a half mile away and always come running because I never cry wolf - if they make the effort to come all the way back to the barn when they hear me, they get fed. George and Alan are learning the same thing...and catching on way faster, I might add.

The first winter storm of the season blew in yesterday, leaving a half inch of rain and high winds in its wake. The electricity went out at 5 this morning and finally came back on around 4:30 this afternoon. Meanwhile, the wind dried up the mud, I caught up on my reading, Smooch got an extra-long walk, and the burros enjoyed the hours I spent outside with them.

6 comments:

  1. Where did these new donkeys come from? Were they wild? What HMA did they use to call home?

    Also, American Herds is doing a "special" this month called Decemburro, a tribute to wild burros.

    Will be sure to include this site and Peaceful Valley in the line up.Looks like you are doing GREAT things!!!

    Thank you for caring about the burros - they are such wonderful beings!

    www.americanherds.blogspot.com

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  2. I picked these guys up from the BLM's facility in Canon City, Colorado; Alan (dark brown) is from the Johnny HMA near Pahrump, Nevada. George was born in captivity at the BLM's facility in Ridgecrest, California. They are both yearlings. Thanks for your comment. I look forward to checking out the americanherds blog.

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  3. Thank You!

    For the record, your Ridgecrest yearling's bloodline will be from one of these HMAs- Johnnie, the Slate Range or the Clark Mountains.

    These last two have been zeroed out but BLM is still working on removing them all.

    If George is from either one of these, he is one of the last of his kind.....

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  4. Hi! It's me again....I am putting together a slide show for Decemburro to post on the American Herds blog (am NOT trying to advertise here - sorry) I have some good burro photos but many are from the BLM Internet Adoption Sites and often, they look so sad. I'm trying to get some other pictures that show burros TRUE inner essence and you have three pictures that I found irresistible. All photos say they are public but I want to be sure. I would like to ask permission to use them in the slide show to help promote the "plight of the burros". The three photos in questions are-"Eating Breakfast" and the two of the burros in the trailer that are "hugging" each other.

    If this is not okay, I'll understand but I just had to ask - they stuck in my head after being here before.

    Please let me know one way or the other and thank you for your consideration.

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  5. You may use my burro photos for your slide show but please don't include any photo credit.

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  6. Well, that's a switch but...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! Happy Holidays! :)

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