I need to write more about donkeys. I have lived with these beautiful animals ever since I permanently moved upstate and bought my first Bedlam Farm farm. First, I had Carol, a grumpy old donkey, when I bought some sheep in Pennsylvania.

I love the way they stare at us and manipulate us for treats and attention. They succeed much more than they fail. I find them almost impossible to resist.

Donkeys are the smartest and most intuitive animals I have ever known, they are amazing creatures and have taught me so much about communicating with animals and learning how to love them

I bought Fanny as a young donkey to keep Carol company when she moved up here. Carol had never seen a donkey and didn’t know she was one. All her life, she had only seen sheep.

Carol and I had a volatile relationship. She bit and kicked me at every opportunity, and every time I had to give her her shot to treat her floundering. Willie Nelson was the only voice that could calm her, and when I went out to feed her or give her her photos, I’d play Willie Nelson on a boombox (you may remember them), and she purred like a kitten.

She died of a stroke, and I bought Lulu to keep Fanny company. The two are sisters and have been together for every one of the past 15 years. They are usually sweet for donkeys, who understandably are wary of the intentions of humans. Fanny favors me; Lulu is attached to Maria. But we both love them both very much, and they seem to love us back.

Our farrier Matt Ross (above)  refuses on principle to trim the hooves of donkeys; he has been kicked and bitten by two many of them. Lulu and Fanny love him; we don’t even need to tie them up when they get trimmed; they love to put their heads on Matt’s shoulder. They are the only donkeys he will agree to come and trim.

Six or seven years ago, we rescued Simon from neglect and near death. Lulu and Fanny took to him and kicked him in the head – each on one side or the other – just about every day. Simon loved me like a Lab and followed me around the farm.

We had begun training for walking in the woods before he had a stroke and was put down immediately.

He was a great loss to me, one of the greatest and most painful. Simon and I had forged a most beautiful relationship. But a life with animals is also a life with loss and pain and a teacher of both as well as of love.

Donkeys can live to be 40 or 50, and because Maria is much younger than I am, we don’t have to worry about that right now. A close friend has agreed.

Donkeys are guard animals, they protect the sheep from coyotes.

We have never lost a sheep to a predator, the donkeys won’t let it happen. The four of us love to hang out together. On weekends and days when we have time, Maria and I drag chairs out to the pasture and the donkeys come over to cuddle and be scratched.

I’m going to write more about the donkeys, they have been as important to our lives here as dogs, sometimes more.