A Trapped Hummingbird, and Birthday Girls!

Wow, what a day it has been. The highlight of our day was when Mr. W caught a hummingbird in the barn/cottage. I fretted for two hours while the poor little hummer was trying his best to escape. He just couldn’t figure out he had to move down just a bit to go out the doors. I made various unsuccessful attempts at luring him close to any of the three doors. Finally, we used a long dip net and safely rescued him… moving him outside to freedom and safety. Whew. Now I really wish I would have caught the whole process on film. Three people tried their hand at the capture, but it was Mr. W who managed the feat.

Today is miniature donkey Gracie’s birthday. She is now a whole two years old! Tomorrow is Ruby’s second birthday as well. They are half-sisters, and yes, born just one day apart. A few years ago I decided I must have a miniature donkey of my own. The more I researched the matter, the more it became apparent that a donkey on our farm was simply meant to be . As well, I discovered that “a lone donkey is a lonely donkey.” A lonely donkey is not a good thing. They are sad, lonesome, and continually bray. Even if they have other buddies, i.e., sheep, goats, horses -- many times they are not content unless they have a donkey buddy. Therefore, I knew I was looking for two lovable long ears, and not just one.

I searched far and wide, or at least across the state of Missouri. One day I received a message from my sister that she had seen some pregnant miniature donkeys on a farm that was along her hour-long commute to her teaching job. Lucky for me, this donkey farm was only about twelve miles away from me! The people who owned them were actually from my hometown, and I knew who they were (somehow I never knew they raised Little Long Ears). Yee Haw! Hee Haw! Immediately we called, and then we visited the farm as soon as the first two jennets were born. It was love at first sight. Their initial coloring is what inspired their names. Gracie was gray, Ruby was a dark red.  The four months I had to wait to bring them home went really slow, and of course I had to visit them a few times in between.

This is what the girls looked like on their first day at home. I will probably never catch such a perfect photo of them again (they even won a ‘photo of the day’ contest on an equine site). Head to head, almost like they were saying “what the heck is going on? who is this crazy lady? and why did she already put these things on our heads?” Ruby has her ears held back (this happens a lot with my Ruby), and would you just look at Gracie’s ears?! I am happy to report that she has finally grown into those beautiful ears.

Here is a video I put together for their first birthday (with our son’s fiddling as the background music). I plan to have a carrot cake party again sometime this weekend to celebrate birthday #2. If I do, I’ll post pictures of the wild and crazy barnyard bash.

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Happy Birthday, Dear Donkey Girls!!