Winter Tips from Local Asses

It’s a case of keeping the ass warm! Eve Hatcher, who lives just east of Marianna on U.S. 90, really loves her two “Jerusalem” or jenny donkeys she got from a local zookeeper. Well, she says, they don’t have the insulation under their coats like similar animals do, leaving them exposed somewhat to low temps and precipitation. So she put waterproof horse coats on Penny, the 20-year-old female and Cricket, just over a year old. They are called Jerusalem donkeys because they have a cross on their backs in darker hair and they originate from the middle east. That’s the kind Jesus rode on the original Palm Sunday. It was cold in Jackson County this month. An arctic air blast cold snap began on Jan. 4, according to the county extension director’s office, and ended last night, Jan. 13. The cold snap included 12 straight nights of below-freezing temperatures. The record is 13 nights, set in the 1960s. It’s too early to tell the damages, according to Director Doug Mayo, but the local Satsumas and blueberries were certainly exposed.