Posted on 08/26/2019 1:43:56 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
Hillary the donkey is a castaway no longer.
The most famous donkey in Mariposa County was removed from her lonely 1-acre island in the middle of Lake McClure in an intricate operation that involved no fewer than 20 state wildlife biologists and veterinarians, a tranquilizer gun and a donkey trailer that came all the way from Texas to transport Hillary to donkey paradise.
It almost didn’t happen, however, donkeys being donkeys.
Hillary had been living on the small island for two years, ever since the lake waters rose and cut her off from the mainland. Local do-gooders had been dropping off hay bales and apples and Hillary had become a minor tourist attraction, but her continued isolation was deemed to be not in the animal’s best interest.
Shortly after sunrise on Friday, the small rescue posse organized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife boarded a boat and sailed the half mile of lake water that separated the mainland from Hillary’s island.
Biologists had hoped that Hillary would voluntarily enter a small pen that the biologists had built on the island and baited with watermelon and food pellets. The biologists were intending to shut the pen by remote control, trapping Hillary inside.
...Leah Ray said it had been a long day, made even longer by Hillary’s unique personality.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfchronicle.com ...
Looks much better than I remember.
Seems like she can actually stand on her feet now, too.
A slow chase around the island...now that would be ironic if the donkey were a white bronco instead.
So that’s why she wears those caftans - a crooked leg.
Try cattle futures as bait.
Bake cookies or offer a book deal.
If the donkey ran in this primary, it’d get more votes than DiBlowsio.
Leave it to the gubment.
I’m glad you didn’t eliminate her just for being a tad different.
Won’t it be funny if her daughters turn out the same way?
They just needed to float over those guys that threw her in the van like a sack of potatoes.
Chickens tend to be very social to the point of being ruthless toward those who do not conform.
It pretty much is. Some say you can put 2 horses or donkeys on 1 acre. But the “helpful” people were dropping food anyway, even if it an acre weren’t enough. She felt at home. She was apparently kept well, and didn’t really care - she could have gone swimming and left whenever she liked. If she had run out of grass, she WOULD have. It’s fine as far as I’m concerned that they “rescued” her, if it makes them feel better.
This reminds me of the story of the person who didn’t want the butterfly to have to struggle to get out of the cocoon. He split it open and the butterfly couldn’t live, because the struggle was what pushed the fluid into its wings, and enabled it to fly. Leave nature alone, and what happens is what happens.
Now - just think about this - it took them a long time to catch and sedate her. They were lousy shots! I live on an acre and could stand anywhere in my yard and hit a donkey any time I was ready...
2 horses per acre? At least! ... if the land is top-quality grazing land.
I have 6 grazing on a 3 acre irrigated pasture. I rotate them off every 2 months
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