Teenager Rupert, our much loved woolly donkey, was `bothering’ Talulah his mother mercilessly. So not wanting more donkeys than the three we have, we decided to have him castrated. The procedure performed, by Dr Zollner of Malmesbury and assisted by our overseas volunteers Sally and Jonte and Ronel and Michael who were pruning our oaks that day went easily. But it was what happened afterwards that surprised and touched us all. As soon as Rupert lifted his sad and sorry head, Tallulah and Bella went towards him, standing close by him as he wove about drunkenly. They sniffed his nether regions, then each touched noses with him individually before having a long three way nose touch. Mom Talulah then let him have a comforting suckle when for six months she has disallowed this. They stuck closely by him until he was properly on his feet and feeding alongside them.
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1 comment:
Touching story, lovely pics - and nice to know that Tallulah and Bella welcomed Rupert so kindly into the world of testosterone-free donkey happiness! This story has made me want to hurryup and read Andy Merrifield's acclaimed book 'The Wisdom of Donkeys' (which I've recently bought) - it's about Gribouille, a donkey with whom Merrifield walked around southern France, and from whom he says he learned a lot of wisdom. (The book is subtitled 'Finding tranquility in a chaotic world', and has been described as 'one of the best animal books of our time.') Maybe Rupert, Tallulah and Bella have something to tell us?
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