Equus Asinus

…than others.  And much more intelligenter than many humans think they are.

I was explaining to a friend a few days ago how I’d seen yet another little sign of intelligent behaviour in my donkeys.  I try to get a cup of tea in the morning before I go and feed the donks, and I was given a lovely red enamel kettle as a present a while ago. It has a shrill whistle when it boils.  The donkeys used to bray when I opened my door to go and get their food: they can see my door from the field.  Now they have learned that the kettle starts whistling, then there is a pause while I have my cup of tea, and THEN the door opens…

So, what do they do now?  For the last three days they have brayed when the kettle whistles, inside my closed house, behind a closed kitchen window.  Those long ears don’t miss anything, but the donkey brain can also work out the place of the whistling in the sequence of getting fed.  Now I have to endure impatient braying while trying to wake up with my cup of tea!

And this, which I just saw on YouTube (not my donks), is priceless.  Watch the clever thinking take place…

URGENT Abruzzo appeal from the Donkey Sanctuary:

You may like to join me in contributing to the appeal for funds to provide one-off emergency help for the donkeys affected by the freezing conditions and isolation after multiple earthquakes in Central Italy.

http://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/donkeysanctuary/abruzzo

Unlike the horrendous China donkey holocaust I talked about last week (which is an immense and complex issue)  here is something that can be solved right now, with food!