A DONKEY SHEPHERD

At the MSU sheep barn I went to the fence to photograph some grazing sheep. Suddenly several of them started trotting my way along with a donkey. He came directly toward me, although not right up to the fence, then seemed to keep watch of me. Hmmm - I thought it was strange to find a lone donkey in with the sheep, but I've since learned that donkeys are often used to guard livestock - a shepherd in this case. Now I realize this donkey was protecting his sheep from me!

Donkeys have a natural herding instinct, and will confront & bite a predator to chase it out of the pasture. They have an inherent dislike of coyotes and dogs. If the predator doesn't leave, the donkey will rise up on hind legs and kick with both front feet, and has been known to kill coyotes and wolves that stalk their herd.

My favorite blip assistant surprised me with another drive around Michigan State's farmland in the event we might see something interesting connected with their Agriculture Expo going on this weekend. We stopped by the sheep farm, a bull barn and also the horse pastures again. (Didn't really find anything related to the Expo, but saw some interesting animals.)

On Flickr, there's another picture of this donkey in with his herd. His ears flicked with every click of my camera. At the horse barn, a couple mares and colts came right up to the fence, probably hoping I had a treat. I've also posted a picture of me (my hand) petting a little colt. His nose was like the softest velvet! :-)