Donkeys, Scout and the chislers

The other day as we were finishing work, we walked out into the field where the 3 little donkeys live. They don't do much other than serve as the ranch "mascots." The guests love them, and I can see why... two of came right up and just kept nuzzling and head butting me. My "boss" took a picture ;)

This little guy Moe is the father of the the "round" brown one...

On another critter-related note... I have my cat Scout with me here on the ranch. She's 16 and pretty content to stay in my cabin and just look out the screen door and watch the birds. The last few days, the weather has been beautiful, so I decided to let her out under my watchful eye. She just sort of slinks through the tall grass and goes under the cabins to roll in the dirt. They're all raised or on blocks. When I head back to work, she gets put back in the cabin because there are coyotes, hawks, eagles, etc that could do her harm.

I noticed her looking at something and realized it was a very friendly baby prairie dog, otherwise known as a chisler. Ranchers hate them because they dig holes that people and horses step in. Scout had other ideas. They actually started playing! In the photo above, Scout is actually reaching out very gently with her paw and touching the baby prairie dog.

Before long, two baby chislers were popping in and out of holes in the ground, nuzzling each other and Scout and even me! No mother in sight. I have a feeling there may be a lot more where these two came from...

There was no chasing or biting, just very sweet and gently play. I couldn't believe my eyes. I'd say they've all made friends for life. Welcome to Wyoming...