At a ranch in the mountains near Walden, Colorado, Rancher Gittleson walked into a bullpen.
The three donkeys in the bullpen looked at him intently, their ears open forward, as if following his footsteps.
These donkeys in the cattle pen are not ordinary domestic animals.
They are "battle donkeys" dedicated to guarding the ranch.
The question is, how can these fighting donkeys actually rob the sheepdog's job?
Here's the thing.
In 2021, a wolf couple came to the area without human help, settled in a nest, and gave birth to a litter of wolf cubs.
This excited local animal protection scholars because it was the first time that gray wolves had returned to Colorado to breed since hunters wiped out the local gray wolves in the 1940s.
So Colorado wildlife officials decided to step up efforts to make gray wolves protected animals.
While actively releasing gray wolves into the wild, we also protect other wild gray wolves that roam the area.
The policy helped the wolves recover, but it hurt the people of the local ranch.
Since the implementation of this policy, the number of local gray wolves has increased, and they have finally begun to think of livestock in the pasture.
According to rancher Gittleson, the wolf has killed three of his family's cattle and a dog since last December.
Gittleson didn't think of a way, he wanted to shoot and kill the invading wolves, but according to local law, wild wolves are protected animals, and shooting is illegal;
So he set up an electric fence for the ranch, and he also began to work late at night, which worked better, and there were no wolves attacking for nearly a month.
But he knew that wolves wouldn't be forever afraid of the grid, and that doing so wasn't a long-term solution.
So what to do?
Kitterson originally wanted to keep a few huge sheepdogs as a deterrent, just like other ranches.
But after learning of the dogs' high food bills, Gittleson decided to find another way...
It was then that wildlife officials inadvertently brought up a method called "housekeeper donkey."
In many stories, donkeys are symbols of stupidity, but this is actually a false perception.
Donkeys don't run as fast as horses because of their stature and place of residence, so whenever they encounter danger, they must take the time to assess the degree of danger and decide whether to flee or stay to fight.
This cautious personality can easily be mistaken for "stupidity".
On the other hand, the donkey is also a brave and warlike animal.
Unlike horses, donkeys did not evolve into social animals, but lived on a scale of about five in groups.
They have no leader, but whenever they encounter danger, no donkey will flee,
All members fight hard and do not show weakness until they are seriously ill and seriously injured.
So how strong is the donkey's fighting power?
Someone shared a video of a wolf being killed by a donkey after killing a donkey's child, and then the donkey still clutched the wolf's body, throwing and stepping on it like a broken sack.
So what about donkeys as nursing home animals?
According to experts from animal protection groups, donkeys cannot deal with the hazards caused by small animals such as raccoons or birds;
Nor are they a threat to large predators such as mountain lions, wild boars or bears, but they are instinctively aggressive toward canines such as wolves.
They do not patrol, but eat and live with other livestock, and once an intruder such as a wolf appears, they will bite the intruder with their teeth and kick and fall.
(A donkey kills two foxes)
After hearing the officials' introductions, Gittleson introduced six wild donkeys to the farm as caretakers.
After the six-headed donkey nursing home came to the farm, it seemed to be very accustomed, and when they got out of the car, they began to calmly eat the prepared hay.
Kitterson's 13-year-old grandson is not very happy with these thug donkeys, he thinks these donkeys look cool, but too calm,
On weekdays, even if a dog enters the fence, the donkeys are motionless, not at all like they can effectively deter wolves.
But in fact, these are actually deceptive appearances.
A Rancher in Minnesota, who has been raising donkeys to drive wolves for more than 20 years, said he had never seen a wolf come to him to make trouble.
He had only seen a coyote sneaking into the fence and being hammered half to death by a donkey.
Then the donkey, like a martial arts master, stood motionless next to the coyote, as if waiting for the coyote to escape on its own.
After listening to other people's introductions, Kittelson decided to continue the good habit of raising donkeys.
Now he has bought a breeding male donkey, hoping to make the donkey grow up with the calf in the future, and shoulder the responsibility of nursing home from an early age.
Kittelson said that the donkey care home is still working well, but the spring calf season is coming, which will be the biggest test for donkeys.
How to say it, it is indeed unimaginable, usually speaking of a silly donkey, is actually the nemesis of the wolf, it is really a donkey can not look ah...
Source: British Stuff