guard donk

A couple of weeks ago we took our friend Violet on an expedition to buy some alpacas and she came away with a donkey. Not only that, she's a pregnant donkey. And she's adorable. (However, I have to say that it was really hard not to get an alpaca ourselves and keep it over at Violet's. They are really cute, and their wool is really soft and sells for a good price. However, you need at least two because they are herd animals. I'll admit that I was a little heartbroken once again for living in town, but I think we'll have to have to have some one day.)


Donkeys are used to guard herds. They protect sheep, goats, alpaca, etc from coyotes and whatnot. For real! Daisy (that's what Violet named her) instantly took an active role in keeping Violet's dogs out of the barn yard, and as she's getting settled in, she's realizing that the goats are her herd. When Violet's little 5 lb. Yorkie got under the fence, we thought she was a goner for sure. Daisy keeps an eye on everything.

We keep telling Violet to call us the minute Daisy goes into labor so we can rush over and see the baby being born.

The more time that time goes on, the more I realize that I need a small farm. I'm not even kidding. Once we settle in to where ever we're going to be, we need have a place where we can have fun animals, but also be close to a city with real culture and the kind of values I believe in. I'm really getting tired of driving around in black clouds because people are actually proud to do environmental damage with their enormous trucks. If you need a truck (because you have a farm), fine. I can accept the need. Do you really need to have two huge pipes protruding from the bed of your truck that cough clouds black enough to obscure my view of the road every time you step on the gas? Do you really need to taunt me with your bumper sticker that says, "You just got sooted?" It really bothers me.

But enough about that. Back to Daisy.