TMD: Coming soon!
MG:
Wanna kiss? (Courtesy Wikipedia)
To celebrate that the voting is over, even if the election looks set to continue indefinitely, today we take a brief look at the donkey—familiarly known as the ass prior to modern times when that designation somehow fell into ill repute.
Popularly known to biologists as the Equus africanus asinus (alternatively, as their own species Equus asinus—thanks, biologists, you’ve managed to clarify nothing), they are thought to have been domesticated by our ancestors in Africa five to seven thousand years ago. They are related to horses and zebras.
Asses come in two major variants—jacks/jackasses (boys) and jennies (girls). Other variants and self-identities have not been adequately described on the Wikipedia page I’m looking at. Worldwide, there are thought to be some 40 million individuals, mostly in use as draught and pack animals, mainly in developing countries. Their numbers have been declining as human populations have grown wealthier and could afford to replace them with machinery.
Jackasses and jennies are famous for being stubborn. In the wild, they tend to be loners living on marginal lands less hospitable to human use. Their stubbornness is believed to derive from their cautiousness in the wild, evolved for self-preservation.
In much of North America, donkeys are traditionally associated with voting, elections, and politics. Here, their stubbornness is regarded as a virtue, as many a smarting GOP candidate can attest. But their practical utility as pack animals makes them a welcome addition to any family.
[This article is merely a stub. The actual Special Animal Friend is anticipated to return in a few short days.]
Nice little thing about asses you did there. But..."Their numbers have been declining..."
Really??
OK. I see my mistake after re-reading that sentence. I was confusing the 2-legged and 4-legged varieties. Sorry. Should have known better than to question your work...
Hopefully it's just overexposure to the election bruhaha, but I'm not enjoying TMD these last few days. I enjoy the badinage here, but scrolling through comments at the Mothership (in part because it's such a pain the @$$ now) isn't as enjoyable as it has previously been.
And some of the jerks are definitely getting more "jerky".
Or maybe I'm just extra grumpy this morning. I dunno. Time for more coffee.