A few weeks ago, Emmett, the donkey foal, took one bite of sweet potato out of my hand. The next day, he took two pieces from Bob’s hand. It must have smelled good and his mother has refused to share anything that she is chewing. (Since he has quit nursing, her motherly bond seems to have dried up alongside her milk.)

Fast forward to today, and he has his nose sticking out between the fence rails as often as the two Jennies. Being smaller, he is also more agile at slipping in between the two adults. He has also become a favorite with the children that come to feed the donkeys.
His formerly fond mother pushes his nose out of her way as often as she nudges Nelly out of the way. Although she has been known to chomp the back of any goat that gets between her and food, neither she nor Nelly seem to try to kick or bite, Emmett as he dodges all of the other animals to get more than his share of whatever we are feeding them.
When we show up, it is a race to the fence between the Bullies and the Donkeys to see who gets there first. If the bullies get there first, they either stand on the lower fence railing to get their heads over the top railing or stick their heads through the railings. If Nelly gets there first, they chase her away. If Holly gets there first or with Nelly, they immediately withdraw to form a second line safely behind the donkey kick range.
Since Nelly is the largest animal in the front pasture, it is sadly amusing to see her intimidated by the smaller Holly and both Bullies. When she tries to bray, she sounds like Andy Devine (Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977)[ was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature films. He also appeared alongside John Wayne in films such as Stagecoach (1939), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and How the West Was Won (both 1962). He is also remembered as Jingles on the TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok from 1951 to 1958,) Bob thinks she must have smoked when she was in her teens since she sounds like she has asthma and requires several attempts to finally get a hee-haw rasped out of her throat.
Yesterday, we threw out raw pieces of butternut squash, the spoiled donkey spit them out as soon as they tasted them. The goats enjoyed them at first until they noticed that the donkeys were not eating them, then the goats got particular also. Today, there were still several medallions of butternut squash lying around in the pasture mud.


