Jeremiah Was Not Just a Bullfrog

 The name of a place can be descriptive of the terrain, animals, or plants to be found there.  When one mentions the Nevada desert a lot of animals come to mind, but I will admit that a bullfrog is not high on the list.  Nevertheless, there is a place known as the Bullfrog Herd Management Area and that is where our burro's story began.  He was born in 2014 and rounded up in 2018 in the Bullfrog HMA.  Upon arriving, he was vaccinated, dewormed and gelded, none of which was likely to endear him to humankind. Since then, he's been in BLM holding pens, which I suppose is like a form of wild burro purgatory.  Sometimes humans moved him with flag sticks from one pen to another, but, just as in the wild, the other burros he was with were his temporary family.  

His journey east, with all the other burros and Mustangs being adopted for this event, was delayed several times.  The pandemic made it difficult and hurricanes made it treacherous, but he arrived, safe and sound.  

My first glimpse of him was when the TIP Challenge organizers (and their equine savvy kids) moved him through the lanes and into a chute where I had my trailer backed up.  He was a furtive grey creature dwarfed by the sheer size of the specially made chute.  They used twine to lower a halter into place and strap it on his head.  Then, I watched as they opened the chute for a path to the trailer.  He was unimpressed.  As many times as he has been loaded and unloaded on his journey east, I could understand.  He turned back a few times but flag sticks directed him toward the inevitable.  His lips were clamped tight and his body tense as he finally decided to step into the trailer.  

I had one pit stop at a gas station on the two hour drive.  He mashed himself against the front wall of the trailer, as if trying to blend in, while I quickly ran inside the convenience store.  At our farm, I set up the portable corral panels that directed him into a large pen with food, water, and a shade tree.  

We named him Jeremiah, (the aforementioned Bullfrog HMA) and because we hope he will be a friend of ours.  His nickname is Jay.  He got to work mowing the grass in his pen and learning the sights,sounds, and smells of his new home.  

One short session with him to find out how close he would allow me to get to him.  We worked up to five feet and called it a day.  He has a lot to take in.