If you are out walking in Rolling Hills Estates you might be lucky to come across four of the cutest donkeys around! I was smitten the first time I discovered them hidden away in a shady corner off one of the trails.

Who doesn’t love a face like this?

Meet Mario.

Here we have Belle Star, Emmylou and Santino. It is very hard to get a photo of each one alone, so please forgive some of the photos. That and the fact they they were clamoring for attention. These are very well loved donkeys.

Belle Starr, you can call her Starr, is Mario’s mother, and Emmylou is Santino’s mother.

I was fortunate enough to be able to meet with Gary Johnson who is their owner and he very kindly shared their history with me.

They are Miniature Mediterranean donkeys, which is a completely separate breed from regular donkeys and they originate from the Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily, which is perfect for this family as Gary is of Italian heritage and he named Mario after his Italian grandfather and Santino after his Uncle. Emmylou is named after the singer Emmylou Harris! Belle Star joined the family with her current name.

When the Johnson family originally purchased the donkeys, they had only two. Starr and Emmylou, they knew Starr was pregnant, but it turned out Emmylou was too, both by the same father. Mario was the first to be born and he is pretty special as he was delivered by Gary himself, without the assistance of a vet. I’ll spare you some of the gory details, but one thing that was very important was that they imprint him as soon as possible. That means touching him right away and often, to get him used to human contact. It might explain his high intellect and naughty behavior! He has quite the personality!

When it was time for Emmylou to deliver, she did it all by herself. The Johnsons came out one morning to find four donkeys in the paddock. What a clever girl!

You will notice that one of the donkeys always has hay on his back.. yup, it’s Mario. When he was little Gary’s wife, Lisa, playfully threw a bit of hay on to his back at feeding time. Little did she know that the next time and ever since he has always done it himself, tossed some of his food on his back. As I said previously, he is quite a character.

All four of them are wonderful and lovable, they come over for hugs and maybe the occasional treat, like an apple.

So, if you are lucky enough to come across them stop by the fence and visit with them for a bit, you might just find that there is a peacock or two sharing their space. The donkeys seem to tolerate them

I will not share the exact location to protect the Johnson’s privacy.

SUBSCRIBE FREE TO PALOS VERDES PULSE!

Dianne Gowder Bio:

Here is a link to my Facebook photography page

https://www.facebook.com/Walking-About-Photography-by-Dianne-Gowder-105661514321435/

Also I can be found on Instagram @dgbrit

Originally from England, but now long time San Pedro resident..

Credit for bio picture: Arturo Garcia Ayala

Dianne loves to walk and she tries to do at least 3 miles every day before she heads out to work. Her love of photography evolved from her walks.

“ I have always been amazed by scenery here and more and more I found myself stopping to capture the beauty of my surroundings. As I shared my work I realized that very few people were even aware of what they have on their doorstep!”

Dianne has made it her mission to share the beauty through her photographs and she takes her friends on walks as often as possible.