Donkey Facts
Some Interesting Donkey Facts
If you're planning to assemble some donkey facts to describe the animal, you could start with the horse, and then note the differences. The donkey is a member of the horse family, Equidae. The most obvious difference between the horse and the donkey is probably the donkey's very long ears, in proportion to its size. The donkey's tail is more like that of a cow, and there are a number of other differences which set the donkey apart from the horse, largely differences in conformation. While the typical donkey is usually smaller than a horse, the donkey comes in sizes ranging from miniature to around 14 hands, the height of a medium-sized horse. A very pronounced difference of course, is the donkey's unique sound, the bray.
Donkeys have been domesticated for several thousand years, and continue to be used as work animals, or beasts of burden, in many parts of the world. Donkeys were introduced to North America by Columbus, and were extensively used by the Spanish conquistadors during their explorations and settling of the New World. The donkey enjoyed a heyday of sorts in the 1840's, as the preferred beast of burden for miners and prospectors.
No set of donkey facts would be complete without the following: The male donkey is called a jack, the female a jenny, and donkeys under one year old are collectively referred to as foals. A foal is a colt if male, and a filly if female. Different species of the horse family can usually interbreed, with the most common example being that of the horse-donkey hybrid, which we know as the mule. The mule is the result of a male donkey mating with a female horse, and in general, carries many of the finer features of both species. A male horse can also mate with a female donkey. Here the offspring is called a hinny. A cross species less frequently encountered, and generally considered to be a less desirable or useful animal than is the mule.
The most interesting donkey facts relate to those things the donkey is good at, a few of which may surprise you. A donkey can be saddled and ridden like a horse, and is a very good mount for small children. The donkey will generally run no faster than it wants to, which is not very fast. The donkey, as we have said, can be used as a best of burden, and as it often bonds to its owner, and to humans in general, can be used as a pack animal without requiring a lead rope.
Donkeys are also used as security guards for herds of cattle or sheep. A donkey does not like animals such as wolves or coyotes, and will aggressively defend the herd against them. Besides a powerful kick, a donkey will bite and stomp a foe. Most donkeys do not like dogs for that matter, and are apt attack a ranch dog, though they can usually, if not always, be trained to coexist.
Ranchers who raise horses often have a donkey or two on the property. The donkey will serve as a calming agent when around horses, especially foals. While a foal will not willingly approach a human, unless trained to know that it is all right to do so, a foal is normally quite comfortable around a donkey, and when the donkey approaches a human, the foal is likely to do so as well.
One of the best of the donkey facts is they make fine pets and companions. Donkeys tend to be well-behaved, and can be very loyal. They are sometimes called stubborn, but most experts believe that they are simply being cautious, and careful. If a donkey doesn't believe it’s a good idea to go somewhere, it won't go there. All in all, for work, as a babysitter, guard animal, or companion, a donkey can usually fill the bill.