Baby burros nursing and napping in our yard

WELCOME to our two new followers:

Ametrine KnowingWillow -  I don't see  any information about you, or a blog to plug for you, Ametrine, but we're very happy to have you along on our adventures.  I hope you enjoy following along with us. 

klbexplores - this is a brand new blog - the writer has horses, donkeys, a goat, turkeys, chickens, dogs, cats, children, and grandchildren.  AND she's a single parent.  WOW.  klbexplores also has a vintage trailer named Lolita.  There's only one blog post; klb, I hope you continue to post.  It sounds like you have an interesting life.  Thanks for following Me and My Dog!  :)

Welcome aboard to you both!

Well...  We've had visits from the burros each day.  Yesterday when I woke up they were in the bushes on the side of The Palms, just munching away.  They found a piece of cardboard, and two burrows took big bites of it.  Then they tried out the fire pit in front of us.

 This tastes like cardboard!

Checking out the fire pit.

They didn't come up to The Palms, just stayed in the yard eating, then moved on and stopped in front of a neighbor's rig and rested.  I walked over closer to see them, and some were laying down, resting and sleeping while the others seemed to be guarding them.  The burros were around - on and off - all day.

They must have walked a lot - the baby was really sleeping.

Then this morning when I woke up, I looked down the road at the water, and there they were, I could see six silhouettes, so I imagine when they are down this way, they drink the water from the Colorado River near the dam.

 Two families down by the river.

There is a lake up at Imperial Dam LTVA, the main campground, so they probably drink that water when they are there.  I heard them braying when I was there, but I never saw them.

Today was kind of exciting, burro-wise.  There were six this time, I don't know where the seventh guy was today.  From their coloring, they seemed to be two families.  They slowly made their way up toward us, staying in the bushy areas on the side of the road, then they crossed the road and came up by us.

At this point there were only four - two moms and two babies.  I lost them in the bushes, and didn't see where the males went.  A fellow camper said the babies were born last year, so they must be around a year old.  The families each have different coloring, grey and brown, and it's easy to see who is the Dad, Mom and Baby of each family.

As they were approaching our campsite, the grey mom and baby were walking together, and the brown mom and baby were together.

Then the brown baby started irritating the grey mom.  If you click on the following photos, check out the grey mom's ears - they are up when things are good, sideways or back when she's mad or threatened.  You can also see her face - teeth and all - when she's fighting with the brown baby. 

 Little brown burro getting a talking-to by grey mom.

 The talking-to didn't seem to work, and there was a bit of an altercation.

The grey baby quickly got out of the way.

When things calmed down, the moms and babies slowly came up the incline toward our site, then stood in front of The Palms, each young burro standing by it's mom, and the brown baby getting a little snuggle.

The brown mom comforting her baby.

The grey burros moved off a little, and then the smaller grayish baby started nursing.

Oh-oh - here comes trouble.

Soon the brown baby came over, and wanted to nurse, too...

"I'm hungry, too!"

... and the female didn't like that.

 There was another row between the mom and the brown baby, 

the grey baby went to the other side.  Notice mom's ears.

 Go back to your OWN mom.

 I'm NOT kidding - go away!

 Okay... (Mom's ears are back up)

It's not fair, though! (Mom's ears are to the side - she's ready for trouble.)

... and finally the brown baby went back to it's mom to nurse.  Not for long, though. I was thinking the nursing time for this little one was about over.

Both babies nursing - nice burro family moments.

After eating, the smaller baby laid down to sleep, and the mom stood guard.

Good baby, go to sleep.

The brown burros stood close together and rested.

This little one didn't lay down for a while, but rested against its mom.

For the rest of the afternoon they took turns sleeping and guarding each other.  The brown baby finally lay down, and the grey mom came over and laid next to it.

So sweet.

I don't know if the grey mom came over to help protect the brown sleeping baby, but she left her own baby sleeping alone, so I'd guess she wanted the protection of the other mom while she was resting.

Then suddenly I heard long, loud braying, and looked out the window - one of the males was chasing a motorcycle down the main paved road.  He was hauling ass after that motorcycle!  (Note to Denise - drive slow if you come back this way next year on your motorcycle.)  Obviously the motorcycle got away, then the burro stopped running and walked across the street and up our dirt road, and the other dad appeared, too.

"Taught that motorcycle a lesson!"

They grazed while the moms and babies were resting/sleeping, then they laid down in the dirt by the bushes and rested, too.

Then a man stopped his car on the dirt road to the campsite and he had food, so the males got up and went over to him, and the females and youngsters woke up and went down the incline to see about the food, too.

After that man left, the burros all stayed there on and near the dirt campground road, either sleeping or watching.

Then a woman came up with her camera and the burros were "on guard," I don't know why, but they didn't approach her.  They seemed very restrained when she was there.  One male stood still a distance from the woman, the females and babies got up and stood further down the road huddled together in the middle, and the other male stayed by the other end of the road.  They just stayed there in that formation until she left.  They didn't move, but kept their eyes on her.  It was weird, because she wasn't doing anything but taking photos and didn't try to get close to them.

That marked the end of rest time, and they spent a couple of hours in the vicinity across the campground road eating and walking around.  When I looked out the window later, they were gone.

I did research on what the baby burros are called.  Until they are one year old, all baby donkeys are called foals.  Once they are over one year old, baby boy donkeys are called baby jacks and girls are called baby jennys.  Adults are called jacks and jennys.  (A burro, of course, is the Spanish word for donkey, they are the same animal. Here in the desert, they seem to be called burros rather than donkeys.)

From me and Katie, have a nice Tuesday, everyone!  :)

MOOOOMMMM! WE'VE GOT COMPANY! or... Be careful what you wish for!

Ruff, Ruff, Ruff!  Well, now we know for sure, Katie is a good watchdog...

...and she isn't backing up!!  :)

We had the most exciting afternoon!  Katie and I were sitting outside in the cool afternoon breezes this afternoon. It was around 93 degrees inside and outside, but better breezes outside. I was reading and Katie was walking around as much as she could on a short leash.  I had a cold ice water, and Katie had a plastic bowl of water.

We are camped on the edge of the new campground (great Verizon!) overlooking the Colorado River across the main road, and I noticed a car stopped on the side of the road, other cars were going around it, but I didn't think much about it.  I kept reading.  Then a woman walked by my site toward the road, and I looked up, and saw more cars stopped.  Thinking there had been an accident, or someone was in trouble, I got up and walked over to the edge of my site to see what was going on. 

That's when I saw the burros.  I ran back to The Palms to get my camera - finally!  Burros during the daytime and I was going to get some photos!   OH BOY, was I ever!

I ended up taking 125 pictures.

There were seven burros, it looked like six adults and one juvenile.  They were in the middle of the street and when a vehicle stopped, they all walked over to the windows, begging.  (That's why the camp host was so vehement on Wednesday that I NOT feed them.  I told her I only want to see them to take photos.  Obviously they are used to being fed.)

They went from car to truck to car, everyone seemed delighted.

There were some men towing a boat,

and I could hear them laughing and talking excitedly.

I stood up on the hill overlooking the road  - snapping away.

Finally all the cars and trucks drove away, and the burros started walking down the road, toward the campground entrance road.  This guy seemed to be the leader.

And he saw me.

Okay, let's see if she's got food.

I guess that's enough car-hopping.  We're going to the campground.

"OMG - Here they come!"  I actually said that out loud to myself.  :)

I ran to The Palms and got Katie off her leash and put her inside.

The rest of the burros turned up our road, then went off the road heading up the hill to our site.  EGADS!  I ran back to The Palms again and put my drink and Kindle and the Cheezits inside, and went back to take more photos.  At that point they were all heading my way, getting closer - and I hightailed it inside, too. 

No, that isn't a hummingbird.

 
They were so polite.  Just crowded around the door, thank goodness they didn't press on the screen door - and push it through.  I was a little worried about that.

They found Katie's water bowl, and between three of them, emptied it.  

They finally wandered around The Palms, and looked in the window over the couch.  

They hung around for a while, trying to get closer, quietly edging each other out of the way, just hanging around like a bunch of teenagers outside a movie theater trying to get close to the cute girl.

Then they wandered away - across the campground to a  bush and started eating it.

They were still walking around the campground an hour later. There are very few RVs here and I could plainly see them walking, stopping, looking around, moving on.

It was so much fun, I was so excited, and Katie didn't know what to make of it.  She barked a little, especially when those big faces were right on the screen door looking through at her.  She stood her ground, though, and kept her eye on them the whole time.  She was close to the screen door, then close to the couch window screen.  She stayed between me and them; it must be instinct, and I was very proud of her.

The whole thing was so absolutely thrilling, I couldn't believe it as they slowly walked up the hill to my RV site, then to my front door.  

When I got here yesterday, I was across the campground, kiddie-corner to where I am now.  I decided I wanted to move this morning and tried a couple of places.  (One of which was a little tricky - I got kind of stuck, had a problem backing out because of the loose sand.  I decided that wasn't a good spot, but it had a fabulous view.)   I really wanted to see the burros, and thought I might be too far away from them if they came through.  They ended up leaving tonight right through the first campsite I was in yesterday. 

So, that was our exciting day.  It was really hot, but I remembered  the window coverings I bought when I was in Vacaville last July visiting my daughter and her family.  It was sooooo hot. I took them out this morning and put one on the kitchen window, where the sun was streaming in.  As the sun moved around the rig, I moved the sunshades to the couch window and front window.  There was a nice breeze all day, and that helped a lot.  All in all, the heat was very tolerable with the sunshades and breezes helping.

Tonight at 8:00 it's really windy outside, and only 84 degrees inside The Palms, so it's cooled down considerably.

From Me and Katie, have a great Saturday night, everyone!  :)

Update on services for Imperial Dam LTVA

I was talking to the camp hosts the other day, and asked about the nearest services.  Turns out there are services going each way out of here.  The closest is about a mile down the road if I turn left going out - there's a type of convenience store there that has most of what I'd need.

Going the other way, there is a Christian Center, I remember passing it on the way here, that is open a few hours four days a week at this point, I think, where I can leave mail and get free drinking water.

Also, anyone can shop at the Army base a little ways past that.  At the base we can get gas, use their restaurants and there is a place to shop (not like "military people" shopping with the deep discounts).  I have no military connections, but there are a lot of things civilians have access to on the base.  They also have a church anyone can attend.

Katie taking a walk on the path by our site.

The camp hosts also said this is a great LTVA because if there's a medical emergency, the medics at the base come, and are here in minutes.  If it's a true emergency and the patient needs to be hospitalized right away,  they will fly you out. Hopefully that doesn't happen very often, but nice to know. 

Jim and Gayle left a comment that when they were here, there were activities like group meals, planned hikes, trips to Yuma, exercise classes, etc. that were scheduled.  For someone like me without a car, the trips to Yuma would have been good, I could have chipped in for the gas, and tagged along for the shopping. The season is coming to an end, though, and I didn't see anything planned on the board.

Finally got a hummer photo - unfortunately his beautiful colors don't show.

One problem at this LTVA is the Verizon is spotty here.  I keep dropping phone calls and have to stand outside and not move around, or my call is lost.  Kind of frustrating.  Without a TV, I rely on my Internet connection to watch TV after the shows have aired, and I can't do that here.  The camp hosts said there's a place down the road right past the Christian Center, up on a hill (I remember it coming in) that has really good reception.   You can actually see the Verizon tower, so the line of sight would mean it's probably blazing fast.  I'm going to move there today.  It's also on the way back to Highway 95, which is the way I'll go when I leave this area, so it'll reduce my drive a little.

I heard the burros braying again last night, and they just started again, this is the first time during the day I've heard them.  I wish I could get a look at them in the daytime - and some photos.

I've been keeping up with everyone's blogs, but the slow Internet won't allow me to see most of the photos, and won't let me leave comments most of the time.  I'm still keeping up with you all...

Pretty sunsets here, as usual.  Arizona's got such great sunsets:

I'll let you know how I like the campground I move to with the (hopefully) good Verizon signal.

From Me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

We've moved to Imperial Dam LTVA

WELCOME to our newest followers, Ed, Carol and Gopher the dog.  They have a Lazy Daze motor home, and have been RVing at least since 2005.  Right now they are planning their next trip, which is to leave about April 10 and return home in mid-December.  Heading west.  Maybe.   Ed and Carol, we are happy to have you along with us, and we hope you are able to leave on April 10!  :)

I am writing this from The Imperial Dam Long Term Visitor Area, which is located North of Yuma on the California side of the Colorado River.

 We are at the edge of the RV site area, the lake is down a hill and over a bit.

Not right  next to us, as it looks in this photo.  I wish!

Morning view of the lake. 

It's pretty nice here, so far. Very different from Quartzsite.  This campground is on the top of a flat hill/mountain on a level gravely, dirt type surface.  

Lots of places to park this late in the season.

 

The vegetation is all around us, but not in the camping area, except a few cactus here and there.  We are overlooking a green area of trees and bushes that's next to the lake, which is low at this end.  Still very pretty.

 View from my dinette window looking northwest.

View from my dinette window looking southeast.

Last night after dark, I heard the wild burrows braying right near our site, and this morning there was burro poop right near us.  Katie was barking like mad as I opened the window coverings to see if they were at all visible.  I didn't realize there were wild burros here, but I'll try to get a picture if I can.

There don't seem to be any birds or other small critters near our campsite, I expect they are more comfortable closer to the vegetation that gives them cover.  There was one red breasted hummingbird that flew up to the dinette window this morning, though.  I immediately got out my new hummingbird feeder, filled it, and now its on my window ready for any birds that come by.

The weather yesterday afternoon and so far today is perfect.  Last night I had the best breezes going through The Palms, and it's warm and breezy now.  So far I like this LTVA better than Quartzsite or Hot Springs, except that there isn't a town close by.  It's 25 miles from Yuma, AZ, and I don't know how good the roads are that way.  I came in from Highway 95, going south from Quartzsite, and the road here was longer than I expected, and after a while, not the best dirt road. 

The Highway 95 entrance to this LTVA goes past the Yuma Army Proving Ground. At the road entrance off 95 are these guns, one on each side of the road:

Then, up the road a bit is a display of lots of tanks and artillery from different wars.  I was a little emotional looking at them, and only took one photo.  It's sad we need these:

 
I've been trying to get a photo of this cactus in flower for a while now, and all of a sudden, they are everywhere.

 There were hundreds of these in bloom along 95.

 Parked at the entrance to the Yuma Army Proving Grounds

These are thorny, dry looking cactus, 

but the flowers are delicate and beautiful up close.

Katie was even willing to sit outside by herself for a little while this morning.

  She walked around a little, stretched out on the dirt for a few minutes,

and then sat on the bottom step, looking in, then whined.

She's such a wuss - just like her mom. :)

When we were driving up to Senator's Wash on our way to the LTVA, there was an area that had been burned in a fire.  Have you ever seen a palm tree after a fire?  I thought it was kind of pretty in an eerie way.

I was ready to leave Quartzsite, and wanted to start heading back to Glendale, AZ to have my solar system checked out by Ron, the owner, then I'll know everything is good with my electrical system, and I'll be able to head north with no worries.  I talked to Ron, and he said he'd be happy to check out my system, just let him know when I want to come in.

So, we'll hang out here for a while, I'm not sure how long I want to stay.  

From me and Katie, see you next time!  :)