The domestic donkey, or burro, (Equus africanus asinus) is descended from the African wild ass, and may be one of the first animals humans ever domesticated. They are great little beasts of burden; tough, hardy, able to eat a wide variety of foods. They can survive in environments that would kill horses, and they are generally regarded as smarter than horses. They can be stubborn, though. Some years ago, I used to hunt elk with a guy named Bill, who kept a burro named Jenny to pack elk quarters out of the mountains, but I remember one day we tried putting a wrapped-up green black bear pelt on her, and once the rodeo was over she flatly refused to move until we removed the bear hide. Bill ended up carrying that pelt out on his own back.
Burros were often used in the American southwest by miners, and because of that, today in Cerrillos, New Mexico,…
