Free Republic

The legend of Brighty the Burro of the Grand Canyon excludes the whole truth. During a winter when some tourists were stranded at the Grand Canyon and were out of food, they killed Brighty and ate him. This factual omission is typical of Park Service personnel who often try to deceive the public. They now say they did nothing wrong in letting the Dragon Bravo fire burn out of control and destroy the North Rim. Far from the truth. The Park's superintendent and every single one of the honchos who let that fire get out of control are criminally negligent...

Backcountry runners are embracing the physical and emotional challenge of racing with pack burros that don't always move at their pace. Burro races honor Old West history and hinge on a delicate partnership between runner and beast of burden. Burros, a Spanish-derived word for donkeys and their wild cousins, must carry a saddle, pick, pan and shovel in homage to a bygone era and the mythical sprint by miners to a land claims office with their pack animal. Some 70 teams tested their skills Saturday in a race winding through the historic, turquoise-mining town of Cerrillos in northern New Mexico....

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — There is an epidemic in an old gold mining town in western Arizona: The wild burros that roam the town's single street are overweight, with rolls of fat on their necks and big, full bellies. But don't blame them. They'll eat anything.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – There is an epidemic in an old gold mining town in western Arizona: The wild burros that roam the town's single street are overweight, with rolls of fat on their necks and big, full bellies. But don't blame them. They'll eat anything. It's the half million tourists who visit tiny Oatman each year. They're the ones who have been feeding these critters carrots, hay or anything else, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says.

FORT IRWIN, Calif. -- Bureau of Land Management officials say as many as 100 wild burros will be rounded up in the Mojave Desert next month and put up for adoption because they keep invading the Fort Irwin Army base. [snip]

SANTA CATARINA, Mexico — Sex never has been safer since a motel called the Thunderclap Ranch reinforced its cinder-block rooms and started advertising them as bulletproof. For $5 an hour, guests here in the gritty outskirts of violence-plagued Monterrey needn't worry about jealous spouses — or more to the point, drug cartel hit men, who usually are better armed. Employee Lucy Regalado, 50, stands inside a room at the 'armored' Thunderclap Ranch hotel in the violent Monterrey area. Business is booming at the $5-per-hour establishment, which also will supply six-packs of beer for $4 and snacks through a porthole in...