You never know what you’re going to find around here. This small, stylish structure recently appeared in a field a mile or so down the road from us and had me wondering whether elves were entering our real estate market.
Then, a new little couple moved into that place and turned out to be very friendly, but with a lot of face hair (which isn’t unusual in Maine). What is unusual, however, is that they’re a pair of miniature donkeys, a type of good neighbor that I didn’t know existed until recently. The donkeys are named Grommit and Wallace and they’re pets:
From what I read, these animals are a distinct breed of donkey that originated in Sardinia and Sicily. They’re strong for their size, which usually is about three feet tall and 200-450 pounds in weight. They historically walked in circles to turn grain-grinding stones and transported supplies in rough terrain. They’ve apparently become popular pets in the U.S., although I doubt whether many apartments would allow them. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 21 and 22, 2024.)