Making a case for a donkey

By Jennifer Ashawasegai

ALBAN – My case for a donkey to help guard the goats is getting a lot stronger. To Ken’s dismay, I have been relentless all summer, e-mailing donkey ads to him.

I’ve been wanting a donkey since I learned they protect livestock, plus, I see them around many fields in our region. One farmer we occasionally purchase hay from keeps four donkeys – one for every field. Mr. Nadon has told us that every year he used to lose at least four or more cows, but now that he has donkeys in charge of his herds, he may lose one cow per year, if any.  The donkeys keep an eye on his Black Angus cattle and save him money over the long haul.

There was a large bear cub in our back yard about a year-and-a-half ago. The bear was sitting on his haunches just behind the chicken coop, checking things out. Ken told me about the bear, and I ran outside, with a few pots in hand to make a lot of noise to drive the bear away. Before we had livestock, we would have enjoyed seeing a mukwa in our yard, but nowadays, it’s cause for alarm. After that incident I really started to plead my case for a donkey to watch over our goats.

As I was writing this column Ken yelled that there was a wolf or coyote in our backyard. I don’t think I’ve moved that fast since my children were small. I raced to the kitchen window to try and get a glimpse of the animal, and there it was – a large, reddish creature, looking more like a wolf than a coyote, very close to the electric fence, just staring at our goats. Huddled together, the goats didn’t move a muscle, and stood staring back at the wolf. Their instinct was to freeze rather than run, because if they had taken off the wolf-thing would have given chase!

We ran out the door. Ken waited until he got just around the corner of the barn before he started hollering and waving his arms to frighten off the wolf. I brought up the rear, waving a long two-by-four with nails sticking out that I grabbed as I went past the garage.

Ken had run the wolf off by the time I arrived, and the goats were still frozen. I noticed both Billy and Lily were trembling, and went into the pen to comfort them. As we left, Lily even braved the shock of the electric fence to be close to us and safety. We hung out with the goats for a little while, until they stopped shaking.

On the way back, I said one word to Ken: “Donkey”. He agreed.