Help, my ass has fallen down a well…

Don’t worry, he came out of it with just a few bruises. Story and title courtesy of the redoubtable raincoaster, who loves a good ass pun as much as I do.

Related posts:

Firefighters rescue horse from icy pond

Hope he didn’t take the keys

The bad pun possibilities are endless

Ponies in the park

ponies in the park, originally uploaded by *wanderlust*.

 

 

…and one donkey. Finder’s fee to raincoaster!

 

Awwwwww

Just in time for Mothers’ Day: Taffy, a Sicilian donkey, gave birth early yesterday to Jack, a strapping, excited little guy. Taffy and Jack were at the Beacon Hill Children’s farm in Victoria BC, entertaining everyone who was fortunate enough to get a first glimpse of the new baby and his mother. Link

The bad pun possibilities are endless

…so let’s just get to the facts: a donkey named Jenny fell into a septic tank near San Antonio, and it took firefighters a couple of hours to get her out. She was unharmed but very, very dirty. More at Raincoaster’s blog.

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Dutch rescuers try to save trapped horses

Firefighters rescue horse from icy pond

Hope he didn’t take the keys

House votes to prevent commercial slaughter of wild horses and burros

Wild Burros of the Owens Valley, originally uploaded by Snap Man.

The House voted Thursday to prevent the government from selling off for slaughter any wild horses and burros that roam public lands in the West.

The 277-137 vote would restore a 1971 law preventing the Bureau of Land Management from selling the animals for commercial processing.

The protection was removed in 2004 when former Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., inserted a measure in a spending bill allowing their sale. Read more

I hope they’ll be looking into alternative ways of keeping the populations down, such as making it easier to adopt these critters, immunocontraception, etc. About a quarter of the mustangs and burros rounded up never find homes…

The law is an ass

Faced with complaints that his donkey was too loud, attorney Gregory Shamoun decided to bring his case directly to the court: he had the donkey testify.

Buddy the donkey appeared in court Wednesday. He walked to the bench and stared at the jury, the picture of a gentle, well-mannered creature and not the loud, aggressive animal he had been accused of being.

Link via Neatorama

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Wild horse spurs suit against Texas farm

Donkeys and mules on stamps

Haven’t done one of these in a while…

Bridlepath: it’s HinnyWhisperer approved!

What, you don’t believe me? Many humble thanks for this honour.

Donkey nursemaids

Before dairy farms became popular, donkeys were used to provide milk for babies whose mothers couldn’t nurse them:

Doctor Parrot, who ran the nursery at the Hôpital des Enfants Assistés, describes in detail how it was done (from the Bulletin de l’Académie de médecine, 1882) : “The stables where the donkeys are kept are clean, healthy and well-aired; they open onto the nursing infants’ dormitory. Treated gently, the donkey easily lets itself be suckled by the baby presented to it. Its teat is well adapted to the baby’s mouth for latching on and sucking. The nurse sets on a stool to the right of the animal near its hindquarters. She supports the child’s head with her left hand , with his body resting on her lap. With her right hand she presses the udder from time to time to help the milk to flow, especially if the baby is weak. The babies are nursed five times during the day and twice during the night. One donkey can feed 3 infants for 5 months.”

Link (via Neatorama)

Jenny update: she’s been caught!

A couple of days ago I told you about Jenny, the wayward donkey hinny. She’s finally turned herself in. Too bad, in a way; I was wondering if we had the makings of an internet classic. Still, good to see she’s home and doing well.

Jenny the uncatchable donkey

A donkey named Jenny runs away from Kevin Hall, of Newport, Maine, Sunday, as Hall and his mule attempt to capture the donkey that escaped from a nearby farm.

Jenny the donkey has been leading everyone a merry dance for the past month. She took off from her new owners and has been wandering around in the woods behind their farm. Lacing her food with sedatives, bringing in a horse psychologist and attempting to lure her in with a male donkey have all failed. And you thought your equines were stubborn. Link

Heavy Loading

Ganked from 10 Daily Things: the unfortunate results of too much load and too little donkey.

Team penning with donkeys

Larry Bass (left) and Aubrey Lemmons (right) co-owners of Coyote Run Arena in Mason, Tn stand among donkeys they will use in their September 23 donkey team penning. They have had three pennings this summer using the donkeys rather than the traditional cattle. Interest in the pennings has increased after each event encouraging the men to schedule a six event donkey penning winter series starting Oct. 21. Lemmons says he has learned “Donkeys are smarter than horses, they have a larger brain.” More information on the pennings can be obtained by calling Lemmons at 901-355-3429 or Bass at 901-605-8337.

Link

I think it would be much cooler if they were riding the donkeys. 🙂

Cloned mule trains for first race at San Joaquin fair

Alex Breitler
Record Staff Writer
Published Friday, May 19, 2006

STOCKTON – For someone who chews with his mouth open and gnaws on a wooden post, Idaho Gem commands attention. Gem, a bay-brown mule with a quick kick, is guarded by three security cameras mounted above his stall, unlike any of his neighbors in Barn Q of the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.

He is the first member of the horse family to be successfully cloned. Gem has quietly taken up residence at the fairgrounds as he trains for his first race next month.

Mule racing has become a popular, big-money attraction at fairs throughout California. But the scientists who cloned Gem and two of his brothers say their work could assist them in another race: that of a cure for cancer.

Gem is unaware of all this, of course. He knows only the predictability of his daily routine: jogging on the racetrack in the morning, chomping five buckets full of hay and barley each day and showing off for visitors who snap his picture just like they did when he was only hours old on May 4, 2003.

“Some people say he’s just a mule,” said his trainer, Ruby Thomas of Sacramento. “He’s not just a mule. He’s special, and I treat him like a god.”Gem and one younger cloned brother, Idaho Star, will race against each other and other mules in Winnemucca, Nev., in early June. That’ll be the first athletic competition between clones of any kind, proponents say.