DELILAH AND WAYLON

Waylon and Delilah (and little Nora, in the middle) live less than a mile from my home here in the Wells woods. I spot the miniature donkeys frequently, standing in their corral next to the fence, eyeballing traffic on Route 1. One day I decided to visit and write up their story for TOURIST & TOWN, the best local newspaper here in southern Maine. It’s such a sweet story, I want to share.

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One afternoon several years ago, Cheryl and Gregg Martinez were sipping margaritas and eyeballing the “interesting” patrons in a Key West bar. A thought popped into Cheryl’s mind. She looked around the bar and asked her husband, “Wouldn’t it be fun to have donkeys pulling drink carts?”

The donkey discussion deepened when the couple returned from their Florida vacation to their Wells home. Partly because Gregg owns the Iron Tales Saloon in Acton, Maine which includes a barn out back plus 12 grassy acres. But the couple had also been itching to find a pet who’d mingle with their saloon customers. They decided a horse was too big and expensive and a dog might not “take” to some of the patrons.

“What about donkeys?” Cheryl suggested. Gregg was immediately intrigued.

They heard about a donkey farm in New Hampshire called Grand Finale Farm. When they drove in and spotted a group of minis playing and braying in the field, Cheryl and Gregg were smitten. The breeder told them, “I have good news for you. Delilah has a baby due this Spring. You might consider taking both of them.”

However, the breeder advised, new-born miniature donkeys nurse their mothers for a minimum of seven months. “We would have to wait all that time for the little guy to be weaned before he could come home,” Cheryl said.  Additionally, donkeys are herd animals so taking only Delilah would not bode well for her happiness.

Several months later, nine-year-old Delilah and two-week-old Waylon (“We LOVE Waylon Jennings!” Cheryl explained) arrived in Acton to live in a  corral adjacent to the Iron Tale Saloon. “Our patrons loved them, especially when the donks trotted through the bar,” Cheryl said. “The school bus even made regular stops so kids could wave at the cute twosome.”

But Acton is a 40 minute drive from their home here in Wells, “And we missed them,” Cheryl admits. So four years ago they added a small barn to their property along Route 1 and fenced a tree-shaded half-acre plot. Waylon and Delilah became year-round residents, “living the dream” in the Wells woods while enjoying lazy afternoons chomping on flecks of hay under the oaks and maples, then sleeping at night in their cozy lit barn. 

“They don’t mind snow or cold weather but, if it’s raining, they won’t leave the barn,” Cheryl says. Gregg even put a radio in the barn for the donkeys’ enjoyment but he’s not positive if they prefer rock and roll or classical music.

Every morning and evening Cheryl and her three-year-old daughter Nora deliver a cup of grain to each donkey. They also put out a bale of hay for daytime munching. Cheryl cleans their hooves with a metal pick each day but relies on a visiting farrier to trim their hooves twice a year. (“Their hooves don’t stop growing and that can be very dangerous.”)

Nora likes to brush their coats using a soft brush. “Their winter coats are so thick that they shed like crazy in the spring,” Cheryl says. And once a year their veterinarian stops by to clean their teeth and give any needed vaccinations.

During late summer and early fall, “Flies really bother the donkeys,” Cheryl says. Since their feet are the only parts of the donkeys’ bodies they can’t reach to scratch, she slips “fly boots” on Delilah and Waylon and sprays their bodies with SWAT Fly Repellent.  Waylon, however, does not like his booties and pulls them off almost immediately. “He’s still a little tyke and I’m constantly putting his fly boots back on,” Cheryl says.

Each donkey has a signature attribute. “Delilah, now 13, is protective of me,” Cheryl says. “When I was pregnant with Nora, she wouldn’t let Waylon near me. She loved to rest her head against my belly.”  Waylon, who is now 4, is mischievous and likes to goose people.  Cheryl says, “He just sneaks up behind Gregg or whoever and gives them a good goose.”

Cheryl states that owning miniature donkeys is “pure absolute joy. They have the best personalities, they’re smart, and once they trust you, they’ll do anything for you. They bray ‘hello’ every morning when we go out to feed them and they love going on walks through the neighborhood.”

“We don’t mind if people stop to look at Delilah and Waylon,” Cheryl says. “And if they show up with cucumbers —which minis love! — our donkeys will greet them happily.”

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Miniature Donkeys 101:

Miniature donkeys are native to the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia. They were bred to be small, tough, docile and trainable, and were used to carry firewood, deliver freshly baked bread, pull carts filled with laundry and also ore carts in mines. 

Adult miniature donkeys measure 36” in height and weigh between 200 and 400 pounds. Their most common color is grey but they can be brown, black, red, spotted or all white. Miniatures live to be 35-years-old if properly cared for. Today there are approximately 52,000 registered miniature donkeys in the United States.