An Apple (or ten) a Day

The apple trees are absolutely loaded this year.  There are four apple trees in the pasture that I usually don't think much about because they rarely produce anything.  This year, the apples are an issue.

I didn't really notice at first when the herd started spending a LOT of time at the far end of the field.  I just noticed that they donkeys, who had been nagging me incessantly to take them for walks or give them more hay or more grass or more something, were suddenly very content to hang out in the lower field.

I should have known better.  Like any parent knows, silence means trouble.  

Fortunately, a couple of weeks ago Tessa decided that the lure of green grass was just too much and she went through the fence.  I was highly annoyed at the time and we had words about it, but that is how I discovered the apple issue.  The trees are fenced off, but the deer had knocked it down (which is where Tessa got the idea in the first place) and the herd were out there snarfing up every apple they could reach.  There was a bunch of brush under the tree and the donkeys had even made little tunnels through it all so that no apple escaped their bloodhound noses.  

It was OK early on because it was just a few apples falling every day.  The herd was spending hours hanging out down there and scouring the area for just a handful of apples.  However, about the time Tessa went through the the fence, the apples started falling in ernest.  Ramsey, who is an absolute truffle pig when it comes to apples was acting a bit off and actually walked away from his food dish.  I was just about to hit the panic button because Ramsey doesn't ever walk away from even a story molecule of food, when I realized that he just couldn't be bothered to eat his vitamins when there might be an apple falling right that very minute.  The very idea was more than he could stand.  

The apples have been getting progressively riper and are falling by the dozen now.  

Which is why I now have two layers of hot fence around each tree, good thing I had to fix fence.  The donkeys are not pleased.  

Every day now, I go out to check the fence and test the security measures.  I grab up a half dozen apples and toss them out for the herd to find.  They think this is great fun while it lasts, but that thier apple quota is far too stingy.

  

It is especially unfair that Tessa is big enough to reach over the fence and occasionally get an extra apple that they can't reach.

The unfairness of it all is just awful.  The donkeys are feeling terribly deprived and I sure am hearing about it.

The whining is OK though, I rather like hearing the incredible variety of woe-is-me brays, squeaks and snorts that they produce.  Their repertoire is astounding.  They have an especially dirgeful duet that they have been working on.  I may have to get some kind of automated voice recorder because the camera doesn't have the range needed to record and you really should hear these two.  Th apple lament is just priceless.