USVI-On-Line

Has anyone ever seen the donkeys playing in the ocean? We have 4 horses who love the water and wade out, swim, dunk their heads, splash the water with their hooves etc. But I've never seen any STJ donkeys in the water. We're usually in STJ this time of the year, and not going there this year. DD is having baby no. 2 and we need to go there is be with baby #1. Guess my thoughts were drifting south.

I only see the donkeys on the road, or just off the road. Although I saw a picture today of a group of them on a beach...
Don't remember where I saw the picture, I'll post it if I find it!

It was here!!
Look at the post titled:

First full day, bad forcast turned into a great day!

Great donkey pictures!

Donkeys do not like swimming. Not one little bit.

I saw that post of the donkeys by the boat, and that's what got me wondering. Huh?, they don't like the water. We have had horses that didn't like the water, but the vast majority do. And all our current ones do. We recently got an automatic waterer that only hold's abt a 1/2 gal of water, but continually fills as they drink it. I recently filled their 100 gal tank as a backup when we were going to be out of town,( in case something happened to the auto one.) The 100 gal tank is an oval about 24 in X 38 in X 30 in high. They were so excited that 2 of them dunked their heads clear to their ears, and the 3rd actually stepped clear into it and stood there. He's about 16 hands tall. A BIG horse. Suprised the donkeys don't share that characteristic.

I have a few questions. Socially, are they a "family"? Do they hang together mostly? Is there an official donkey bed-down area? Or do they just sleep where ever their fatigue overcomes them.
Do they get most of their water from boats and such?
Does anyone own and care for a goat? Does he try to run away to his "family"?
We talked about all of this, last trip....

I would think the difference comes from their native homes. Donkeys come from inland desert regions of North Africa, but horses evolved over a large area of the world, with modern horses originating in northern Europe/Asia, presumably with large bodies of water. Horses were common on St John decades ago, and liked to swim every chance they got.

Interesting. Our horses who didn't like water were arabians. It's hard to imagine that the original origins would make that much differents. But , it makes you wonder

It never hurts to have an apple or carrot with you... and they'll thank you... but don't let them surprise you!

A reminder..DO NOT FEED DONKEYS!!!! It's been a while since anyone was seriously hurt by one, but it is a totally bad idea to feed any animals (except maybe cats) on St John, and especially not donkeys.

Hugo beat me to it. No good can come from donkeys viewing humans as a food source. Even an accidental nip/bite would be very painful. (speaking as former farm girl with horse experience)

Good points... don't feed the wild donkeys people!

(But I still think the photo is funny

Haha, holy cow pnoeric. I actually know the dad of the kid in that picture. It was taken several years ago at the wild animal farm near Callaway Gardens in Georgia.

It has been a recurring post on UGA football message boards ever since.

Made me laugh out loud when it showed up here.

GraysonDave wrote:Haha, holy cow pnoeric. I actually know the dad of the kid in that picture. It was taken several years ago at the wild animal farm near Callaway Gardens in Georgia.

It has been a recurring post on UGA football message boards ever since.

Made me laugh out loud when it showed up here.

How funny! What a small world. I came across the photo and it TOTALLY reminded me of St John donkeys poking their heads in the cars. Hope the kid survived that day, he looks pretty traumatized in the photo!

deejayjay wrote:I saw that post of the donkeys by the boat, and that's what got me wondering. Huh?, they don't like the water. We have had horses that didn't like the water, but the vast majority do. And all our current ones do. We recently got an automatic waterer that only hold's abt a 1/2 gal of water, but continually fills as they drink it. I recently filled their 100 gal tank as a backup when we were going to be out of town,( in case something happened to the auto one.) The 100 gal tank is an oval about 24 in X 38 in X 30 in high. They were so excited that 2 of them dunked their heads clear to their ears, and the 3rd actually stepped clear into it and stood there. He's about 16 hands tall. A BIG horse. Suprised the donkeys don't share that characteristic.

I think I LOVE your horses DeeJayJay!!!

Great picture pnoeric! That kid's expression is priceless!