The mysterious donkey of Sproull Road

heard tell of a mysterious donkey that lives out on Sproull Road. Now truth be told, I don’t know if the donkey truly lives on Sproull (which is off Kingston Highway near Morrison Campground Road). And that’s a part of the mystery. I have no idea where exactly the donkey is.

This little tale comes from word of mouth.

I have friends who live on Canard Road which is separated from Sproull by Dykes Creek. They claim that every evening at around sunset, they can hear the plaintive braying of a single donkey coming across the creek.

Now my friends don’t know for sure that Lonesome (which is what I’ve now named the donkey) does in fact live on Sproull Road. They know that the braying comes from across the creek so they just assume it’s on or around Sproull Road. But I suppose it could be anywhere in that area.

There are lots of possible pastures and fields in that area which could be its home. Sproull Road is, at best, a guess. But for the purposes of this tale, we’ll go with Sproull.

Now I don’t know anything about donkeys. But my friends (Kyle and Stacy are in the dental profession and Connie goes to estate sales, so neither of them is familiar with the inner workings of barnyard animals either) say that it sounds as if this is a lonely little donkey braying at the end of the day, calling out for a mate.

Here’s the thing. I have a pretty vivid imagination and based on my friends’ very limited knowledge of what’s actually happening on Sproull Road, I’ll go ahead and imagine that Lonesome the donkey lives in a beautiful sunlit pasture where it spends the day chomping on sweet grass and trotting around in search of things to see and do.

He is well cared for and wants for nothing ... except a friend.

As soon as the sun begins to set each day, his little heart becomes sad because in the dark of night all he wants is another little donkey to keep him company. Connie swears up and down that this is the reason for his braying.

I love Connie to death, and she can pick through a dead person’s belongings with the keen, practiced eye of a professional estate sale-er. But I don’t know that she’s an expert when it comes to donkeys.

Stacey says they hear Lonesome braying only at sunset about three to four times a week and the sound sets the dogs to barking.

She is very curious about the donkey’s situation and hopes to learn more about him.

I did a quick Google search, asking “Why do donkeys bray.” The first thing that popped up said nothing about loneliness as Connie contends. Here’s what it says:

Due to their distinctive and loud bray, donkeys are sometimes used as guards for livestock such as goats, sheep and calves. The guard donkey bonds with its stock and becomes aggressive if the herd is threatened . ... The donkey’s bray is loud and startling to many predators and can chase them away before they do any damage.

So what if Lonesome isn’t actually lonesome? What if he’s a courageous guard donkey who’s keeping his pasture safe from coyotes or stray dogs or whatever’s trying to get in there?

Instead of a lonely little burro, we’ve got a fearless hero on Sproull Road protecting other animals from harm.

On the other hand, Stacey did a little research of her own and said according to a cattle farmer, the donkey’s probably just “uncut.” Per the farmer: “when they’re uncut, even turkeys can set ’em off.”

Y’all can use your imaginations as to what that all means.

My friends have grown accustomed to Lonesome and would like to know how he’s getting along ... and if he is even, in fact, a HE.

If anyone living on Sproull Road or Sproull Road adjacent knows the story behind this little fellow, I’d love to know more about him.

If I’m allowed, I might even like to visit him one day and take him a treat. I just have to Google “What’s a good treat for donkeys” first. SEVERO AVILA Jim Powell of Young Harris