We like to occasionally give Steve Lackmeyer a hard time on this site for his obsession with ugly old buildings, and sometimes enjoy ribbing Nolan Clay for his creepy fascination with strip clubs, so I guess it's only fair that we call out the Oklahoman's William Crum for his bizarre love affair with goats.
Okay, that sounded weird. It's not that type of love affair. This isn't a short story about the Mathis Brothers petting zoo or anything. William is actually just the leading authority of the Oklahoma City goats (that would have been a great name for the Blue or Dodgers) that are keeping the grass down at Lake Hefner.
Thanks to Crum's dedication to this topic, we now know the goats have a friend. It's a yet to be named orphaned donkey.
Via NewsOK.com:
Oklahoma City Hefner canal goats get donkey co-nibbler
Oklahoma City gives residents a chance to name donkey addition to Hefner Canal groundskeeping animals.
The Hefner Canal’s newest groundskeeper is a stubborn sort.
And the city is giving residents a chance to suggest a name that fits his personality.
If we don't name this donkey 'Crum' there's something wrong with the world. I that doesn't win, hopefully they'll go with Nolan. That would be fitting.
The newcomer, a brown and white donkey, arrived about two weeks ago on the canal in northwest Oklahoma City, where for the past four months goats have been chewing back weeds and underbrush.
The city put the goats to work along the steep-sided canal to reduce the risk of injury for workers and to cut mowing costs.Work began in August with 19 goats from Langston University’s Goat Research Extension Program, along with Otto, their Great Pyrenees guard dog.
The crew now includes the donkey and Otto, about three dozen goats and a couple of sheep.
Ricky Gilbert, who helps take care of the goats for the Utilities Department, said the goats have proven to be “low maintenance, they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Animal control officers picked up the stray donkey about a month ago, said Trace Lyons, a field patrol manager for animal control.
He was healthy and unharmed, but efforts to locate the owner were unsuccessful. As it happened, said Gilbert, “We were looking for a donkey to kind of help Otto out.”
Yep, only in Oklahoma City can you take a lost orphaned donkey with a missing owner and turn it into a goat herder. That's big league.
Anyway, I was just about to use the word "ass" as a pun, so I guess I should tie this post up. You can see photos of Crum on NewsOK.com. They were shot for The Oklahoman by national hero Chris Landsberger, so naturally the donkey is wearing lingerie.
