Oh that Nestle is such a spoiled baby! He knows when it’s time for me to feed the mule and he’s hot on my trail the whole way! Here he is jamming his head into Buddy the Mule’s bucket on my way down the hill in the paddock.
Nestle, one of five John Donkeys here, is very friendly and acts like a puppy dog following me around whenever I have feed or carrots. He knows very well that’s not his food, but he also knows I’ll let him pilfer just a little bit if he’s nice about it.
There’s another reason he gets away with it. Not only is he the youngest equine here, he also recently lost his mom who was his best friend in the world. This donkey nursed for way over a year before he was finally weaned – that’s more than twice as long as most donkey foals. He stuck like glue to his mom BonBon. She was one of the most favorite animals at the sanctuary amongst volunteers and visitors.
Nestle is now with herd matriarch Callie and her sidekick jenny Mocha, so they give him plenty of attention. He’s beginning to take after the females who bray mournfully when it’s time to eat. They act like they’ve never been fed even though we feed them twice a day!
