Thursday, June 16, 2011

Update: Where Did All the Donkeys Go?

If you live here, you know, we have had a good amount of rain. This has allowed the Waikoloa Nightingale donkeys to spread out for green grasses and water. (Donkeys get a lot of water from the young grasses.) This has relieved pressure on the donkeys and they are much less of a problem on Waikoloa Road and less of an annoyance in the neighborhoods.

But they are still here, so stay alert. While the Hawaii Police Department reports no calls on donkey sightings on Waikoloa Road in May (yea!), there was a reliable anecdotal report from a tourist that they avoided a donkey right on the road a few days ago.

They are still around the Village but according to my Waikoloa reporters, they are putting less pressure on the neighborhoods. South Kohala Community Policing Officer Denise Smith-Erickson has seen one in a Waikoloa front yard, and was quite amazed. She'd heard a lot about them, but that was her first sighting, right there!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

New: Mobile Viewing - Sorta

"Cell Phone Art" by Brett Rogers
(http://www.beatcanvas.com)
When you are on the go with your handy mobile device, checking Malama-Waikoloa-Nightingales.blogspot.com will now give a nice mini-view of this blog . It doesn't show the columns to the right hand side of page with all the link buttons to donate, contact other sites, the mission statement, nor the disclaimers at bottom of page. For complete functionality, best to check us from a web browser on your mobile device. That involves a lot of scrolling but will give full information.

If you experience difficulties with mobile viewing, please email waikoloanightingale@gmail.com to report your problem. This is a beta feature. Let me know what device you are using.

Update - HSUS, Capture, and Adoptions

Trapping rates have slowed considerably because the donkeys have spread out after the rains. This means HSUS has had to postpone again bringing over a team of veterinarians and assistants with donkey experience to help Dr. Brady Bergin. It will happen when we have enough donkeys.

Also, we will definitely see a capture pen come closer to the Village as soon as there is a significant uptick in reliable sightings in certain areas. It's important to continue to report sightings to Malama Waikoloa Nightingales at WaikkoloaNightingale@gmail.com. Include your address. Your name and phone help too, but where they are, when they are, and how many they are is critical to correct placing the pen where it will catch the most donkeys.

Dr. Bergin and Bird McIver of CB Horse Rescue have an ever growing outreach and new adopters all the time. I think over 300 donkeys have found nice new homes and won't be making more little donkeys to escape and allow the overpopulation to continue. Current captures have slowed.