A former gold-mining town, Oatman is located on
historic Route 66. Once home to more than 10,000,
the population today numbers less than 200 and a
dozen wild burros. Of the estimated 1,500 that live
in the surrounding hills, about 12 of these burros
wander the town's streets, seeking handouts and
posing for pictures.
Thursday, October 28
As Bruce stands in the trailer shooting the little rubber dart gun he bought in Oatman, here's the story. LOL
Driving to check out a golf course yesterday afternoon, Geri spotted a sign that said Oatman - 13 miles. Somewhere in the cobwebs of her mind, Geri remembered someone saying that we should go to Oatman if we're ever in the area. But why? So, back at the trailer later, she did some internet searching. Oh ya! Feed the wild burros at this ghost town. Sounded like fun so off we went today.
Boundary Cone road is the one to follow to Oatman. The namesake of the road, Boundary Cone can be seen from anywhere in the whole area.
Another interesting rock formation outside Oatman. Looks like a castle?
As we approached Oatman, itself, we could see burros holding up traffic and people feeding them. Ha! This looks like a bison jam in Yellowstone!
The burros controlled the whole little town! Traffic was at an almost standstill. Locals or others who are bored with the burros pushed through them. There must have been about a dozen throughout the town begging for handouts and getting downright nasty to be sure they got more than their share. Bruce was able to pet this one for a second or two before she moved away to get a handout from someone. They have no time for you unless you have food! Ha!
We forgot to bring carrots! What to do, what to do?! We wandered through a shop or two, and Bruce found the dove repellent he'd been looking for to use during our winter in Arizona this year. A little rubber dart gun! Ah ha! No punch to it, just enough to annoy the birds and keep them off the bedrail of the truck! As it turned out, the store where Bruce bought this toy gun gives a bag of alfalfa pellets to anyone who makes a purchase in the store. Yippee! We're set! Let's go feed the burros!
Okay, kids, here ya go!
Ha ha! This is way too much fun!
Be aware to anyone who ventures in, do not turn your little ones loose. They will probably get bitten or kicked! The burros look cute, but they're aggressive as hell over food. "I'm the alpha here. Mind your manners!"
Then it was Bruce's turn.
Nice ass! Errrr, jackass. I mean, burro! ;-) Bruce took pity on the baby and, of course, the other one got fed, too.
One idiot had a funnel cake he'd purchased from one of the merchants and was going to feed a piece of it to a burro. Problem was, he had it partially wrapped in the paper and in the blink of an eye, you guessed it! Burro took the whole kit and caboodle right out of his hands and devoured all of it - paper and all. If you walk around town with a paper bag in your hand, they think it's food! We got tired of being pestered by the critters and finally started hiding the bag under our jackets until we were ready to feed one who looked like he/she deserved it. Whatta kick!
This guy looked like he/she had been through a war. A couple of observations: their hooves are trimmed and not chipped, and one of the burros was pawing at the door of the "wild burro adoption center." Not that we were intentionally looking, but we didn't remember seeing any stallions (jacks?) or even geldings. The mares (jennies?) all looked like they were in foal or really fat! Wild? Hmmmm . . .
Jackass Junction, huh? The old Route 66. Wow! Whatta road that must have been.
Done with the burros and the tourist shopes, we headed for home and lunch. Cholla were growing everywhere in this neck of the woods. It's interesting how different cacti grow at different locations and under different conditions. Hadn't given it much thought 'til we started spending time in Arizona.
Well, that's our time with the wild burros of Oatman. Fun way to spend a couple of hours. We'll go back again if we're ever in this neck of the woods!
