Nipper and the Great Escape!

One memorable day last autumn I was entrusted with the care of the donkeys on the Main Yard.  Basically the donkeys and visitors mingle together to the benefit of all concerned.  The donks get a constant supply of love and affection, while the visitors get a chance to be photographed enjoying donkey cuddles.

My first surprise of the day was to discover that instead of an empty yard, Billy the donkey was already on duty, and had been since about 7.00am.  He'd been up with larks, had his hair and make-up done, and had already finished being filmed for a children's TV show.  The film crew had already moved on to another part of the Sanctuary by the time I arrived. As is the way of all donkeys, Billy remained unperturbed by his brush with the world of celebrities and was more interested in breakfast. He followed me round the yard as I distributed the feed around the various stables, before burying his nose into one of the buckets while I went off to find the other donkeys.

 As I approached the door to the barn a cacophony of braying and banging greeted me. Standing in the doorway trying to select 10 donkeys is not easy with all those pleading eyes and eager faces, but eventually, Dinkie, Dusty, Norman, Little Pippa, Jubilee, Sally, Suzie, Chico and Tom all trooped triumphantly onto the yard, straight past the waiting visitors and joined Billy in a breakfast-fest in the stables. The only photo-opportunities for the next 10 minutes would involve hairy bottoms poking out of various stable doorss!

Once breakfast was over, the donkeys behaved politely and courteously as they went about their “Meet and Greet” routine, regularly stopping to pose for photographs and cuddles.  Keeping one eye on the socialising, I started to groom each of the donkeys in turn.  Things went on harmoniously for an hour or so.   

Now the custom is, when a donkey has had enough on the yard, they wait by the gate and I let them back into the barn.  So when Dusty stood at the gate, I let her back in the barn, closed the door and went back to the yard to check the list of donkeys who were available for yard duty, in order to find a replacement for Dusty.   Suddenly I heard a commotion by the barn – a mix of excited cries and the clip clop of many hooves.  To my horror and to the visitors' amusement, a stream of donkeys was pouring out of the barn and heading towards the yard!  As I rushed over, a Mexican wave of fingers all pointed at one particular donkey, “It was that donkey!”

I knew very well which donkey they meant!  I had forgotten to put the chain on the door after I'd let Dusty back into the barn and had only bolted it.  Big mistake Angela!  Nipper can open almost any gate and door in the Sanctuary, and the barn door is a piece of proverbial cake to a master escapologist like Nipper!  He'd grasped the bolt with his teeth and  kicked the door open, all within a matter of seconds of me bolting it shut! Nipper led and forty or so other donkeys eagerly followed!

As you can imagine, the next 10 minutes or so were rather lively as I tried to round up the by now rather excitable donkeys.  Let me tell you, for a group of elderly donkeys – they are still able to dodge and weave with surprising agility!  Fortunately, one of the grooms came to my aid and we soon had them all safely back in the barn.  Well almost... as we turned to go back to the yard, we discovered four more donkeys standing with a group of bemused visitors, enjoying the whole comedic spectacle from the visitors' viewing area!

The rest of the day passed without mishap and it was with some relief that at the end of the afternoon, I escorted the last of the donkeys back to the barn in time for their tea. As I said to Billy the donk whilst I was walking him back, “Thank goodness that film crew had long moved off the yard!”

Since writing this, Chico, Dusty, Billy and Nipper have left us and gone to the Rainbow Bridge - I miss them all...