Donkeys hate coyotes, so much so that they sometimes go postal on them. Sort of like Buck the Donkey did...
Tales of donkeys and their role as farm or ranch security guard have floated around for generations. One such story struck us as particularly interesting, and we've been believers in the effective donkey duty many of these animals have taken on.
Simpsonville, South Carolina, landowner Steve Hipps has a grass pasture in his backyard that's guarded by a donkey named Buck.
Buck used to share the pasture with a female donkey, but when she had babies, Hipps decided to let Buck have it all to himself.
"I just wanted something in there to keep the grass eaten down, and I've always loved donkeys," Hipps told Georgia Outdoor News.
But Hipps got more than a grass muncher; he got a coyote-killing machine.
One afternoon, Hipps' neighbor phoned him up to say that he'd just seen a coyote headed toward his small backyard pasture. Coyotes seldom come out during the day, but this particular female coyote had been scouting out the neighborhood during broad daylight hours.
When Hipps went outside to check on the coyote problem, Buck had already taken care of it.
"By the time I got over there, Buck was stomping the coyote," Hipps said. "Then he reached down and picked him up by the neck and started slinging him like a rag doll. I grabbed my phone and got two pictures."
Buck doesn't mess around. Buck might also have a screw or two loose.
However, Buck's behavior is pretty normal for a donkey. Farmers often keep donkeys with their livestock, particularly cows and horses, because donkeys don't take any sh** from coyotes.
They'll stomp on, and buck, intruding coyotes to death, or they'll warn the rest of the herd by braying.
Not all donkeys do, though. Some are about as dumb as you'd expect. And, donkeys are pretty slow, so they are typically the first animals to get taken down when a pack invades.
But not Buck. I mean, look at the guy, just don't look him in the eyes. And don't you dare enter Buck's pasture.
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