Wild Donkeys Become Shepherds

September 25, 2018 5:19 PM

The Donkey Refuge Where Burros Become Coyote-Kicking Livestock Guardians.
posted by MovableBookLady (12 comments total)

Aww donkeys.

I have also read that llamas make good guardian animals.
posted by emjaybee at 6:05 PM on September 25, 2018 [3 favorites]

Oh, that is clever! I am impressed by his placement rate, although I'm not sure I would say that a donkey doesn't require the same kind of specialized care as a dog does--after all, you don't need a farrier to come out now and again (for example) to trim the dog's toenails, even if you do need to feed the dog something besides forage. Different kinds of specialized care, that's all.

But there's not really that much of the US that deals with predators on the level of wolves and pumas--there's an awful lot of people who need stock guards who are really primarily concerned about coyotes, and donkeys can manage that. I like them an awful lot, and I'm glad that they're easy enough to retrain to do a task there's a lot of demand for.

I am kind of curious to know what happens to the "really batshit" ones, though.
posted by sciatrix at 6:14 PM on September 25, 2018 [2 favorites]

The article said they get gelded and sent to a sanctuary.
posted by Scattercat at 12:55 AM on September 26, 2018

wow, pretty harsh exit interview
posted by ryanrs at 12:56 AM on September 26, 2018 [7 favorites]

MetaFilter: I’m looking for a little bit of crazy, but not batshit crazy.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:33 AM on September 26, 2018 [4 favorites]

Plus, guard donkeys are very effective. A local sheep project uses a couple to keep coyotes away, with great success.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:34 AM on September 26, 2018

@emjaybee: llamas apparently can indeed be excellent guard animals, but only when there is a single llama, otherwise they buddy up with other llamas and don’t care about the other animals.
posted by gucci mane at 6:30 AM on September 26, 2018 [3 favorites]

My uncle had family land in the Brazos Valley and Matamoros and always used jennies as livestock guardians and was terribly fond of them. I think he named them all after female country stars, as I specifically remember him talking about Dolly and Loretta keeping his goats safe.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:44 AM on September 26, 2018 [5 favorites]

Reading this made me so happy. I love donkeys.
posted by twilightlost at 9:04 AM on September 26, 2018 [5 favorites]

A terrific little article.

I especially love the first photograph - that quartet of them staring down the lens like, you got something to say now, pal?
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:52 AM on September 26, 2018

a local state park used to have a couple of donkeys in with a herd of buffalo. Driving by once, i noticed one of the donkeys running full force, head down and teeth bared. I thought what the heck is happening and then i saw the coyote it was after. That donkey meant business and the coyote it was after knew it.

i had always heard donkeys would guard a herd, but never seen it in action. Pretty impressive.
posted by domino at 11:58 AM on September 26, 2018 [3 favorites]

[heart]
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:27 PM on September 26, 2018