Excerpts from a Blog in the Editorial Times of India newspaper
Animal noises and hee-haw laughs break the tedium of video conferencing in coronavirus curfew:
Pin the tale on the donkey
The donkey or ass is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, E. africanus. The donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. In developed countries where their use as beasts of burden has disappeared, donkeys are used to sire mules, to guard sheep, for donkey rides for children or tourists, and as pets. Donkeys may be pastured or stabled with horses and ponies, and are thought to have a calming effect on nervous horses.
- Donkeys can live for over 50 years.
- Donkeys are very strong and intelligent.
- A donkey is stronger than a horse of the same size.
- Donkeys have an incredible memory – they can recognise areas and other donkeys they were with up to 25 years ago.
Donkeys, also called burros and asses, are found throughout the world. They are members of the Equidae family, which also includes horses and zebras. They look a lot like their cousins, but have long, floppy ears and tend to be stockier than horses or zebras.
David Copperfield’s Aunt Betsy would keep a sharp eye out for the quadrupeds, and the moment she’d spot them on the adjacent common, she’d call out to her maid, “Janet! Donkeys!”, and the duo would rush to drive the offending creatures away. The good lady would be not a little put out to learn that far from being a bane the long-eared animals can be a boon, helping to relieve the tedium of long sessions of video conferencing by introducing an element of barnyard humour in the proceedings.
A sassy miniature donkey called Mambo can be hired from a North Carolina farmer for $50 for 10 minutes to “camera crash” an online meeting and add pizz-ass to the palaver.
As its owner proudly puts it, Mambo is “like a pesky little brother who doesn’t let anyone relax too long”. While the farm has other livestock on offer, including three horses, and hens and ducks, Mambo remains the favourite by far. Indeed, the animal that Chesterton defended as being unjustly derided as “The devil’s walking parody/On all four-footed things”’ can be a winsome critter.
And for all its putative associations with stupidity in popular lore, donkeys are said to be an intelligent breed, whom it would be unwise to underestimate.
During his US presidential campaign, when Andrew Jackson was called ‘a jackass’ by opponents, he adopted the animal as his mascot and became the USA’s first Democrat president, making the donkey the party symbol and showing that a gadha can turn out to be a smartass.
Creative Comma Positive Turns 