I see animals as a mirror of many of my thoughts, as it is so simple and commonplace to project my thoughts onto them. I often hear people projecting thoughts onto animals – they are sad, they are happy, they miss us, they were abused, they are jealous, they are grieving, they are angry.  Vets know better. I know better.

But I still do it. Whenever it is as cold as it is now, I imagine the animals as suffering, as needy, as wanting more food, grain, carrots, apples. Upstate winters are very cold sometimes, and it sometimes hurts just to walk outside. But donkeys are not people, and they are well-built to handle extreme weather. And they have shelter and plenty of food.

Usually I give food to them when it is cold and I see them standing by the gate. And of course, wily and instinctive creatures that they are, they learn from this. Whenever it is cold, our donkeys position themselves at the gate near the farmhouse and stare out towards the windows. I look out and think – every time – poor things, it is near zero, they must be cold. They can see me through the windows, as I can see them. At the sight of me, they bray, and I project further: they are calling out to me, telling me “we are cold, please feed us!” If dogs are the animal world’s leading manipulators of human emotion, donkeys might be right behind.

And I invariably go outside with carrots or apples, sometimes grain. Once in awhile, when the fog that lives in my head clears, it occurs to me that it is no accident that the donkeys stand by the gate when it is cold. I have trained them to do so, as I project my own feelings about the cold onto them. And then I think, well, if they are that smart, then they deserve it! Animals do not rationalize, but humans do.