We’ve all heard of wingspan measurements in birds, but we had never heard of measuring ear spread in donkeys.
It was inevitable that after we read this exchange of comments on our For the love of donkeys page, we had to measure the ear spread of the Morning Bray Farm boys.
Mel N.Y. Says:
July 24, 2010 at 5:05 am Linda, Sweet pictureWhats her ear spread ? I’ve met two mammoths with a 33 inch spread !
Reply
Linda and Sam Says:July 27, 2010 at 10:47 pm Hi Mel,
Sam has ears that measure 34 inches, from the tip of one ear down across her head up to the tip of the other.
Linda
We headed out yesterday afternoon to measure some donkey ears. As usual, we had to put up with Bernard’s antics.
Don measured Fergus first.
24 3/4″ give or take.
Then Ellsworth.
26 1/2 inches.
Naturally, Bernard wasn’t interested in cooperating because he’s going to be two years old on Friday.
We’ll give Bernard 22″.
From The Donkey Companion:
A donkey’s hearing isn’t quite as acute as a dog’s but is much better than that of a human (or even a horse). When a donkey picks up a sound or sights something unusual, he pricks both ears in that direction to capture the minutest sounds and funnel them down to the ear canal and on to his brain. The donkey’s huge ears can each swivel and capture sound independently; separate sounds from each ear are processed and analyzed at the same time.
Pretty cool, huh? For those of you with donkeys or burros, what’s their ear spread?
For Carolynn:
August 10, 2010 at 3:50 am
I don’t have a donkey, but I do have a jackass (that would be Poco). But I never heard of measuring ear span.
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August 10, 2010 at 5:49 am
Leah,
Too funny about Poco. We hadn’t either!
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August 10, 2010 at 6:03 am
Ohhh! I can’t wait to measure Jack’s ears now!
He has a set of listeners. Jack is a mammoth Jack, also. He also can twist those big ears around like a set of rabbit ears on the old t.vs.
Your fellows behaved so well for their ear measurements. Maybe if I give Jack a breath mint before I measure his, he will behave also.
Loved the pictures.
Have a great day.
Pam
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August 10, 2010 at 6:29 am
Pam,
I didn’t realize Jack is a mammoth! We’ll be eagerly awaiting his ear spread measurement. A breath mint sounds like a good distraction tactic. I hope you have a great day too!
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August 10, 2010 at 6:36 am
I love when they’ve got one ear to the west and one to the east. Now that’s multitasking!
I never heard of ear span, but boy it looks like it was fun to measure! I wonder if Pepe will let me try…
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August 10, 2010 at 7:04 am
Winter,
It’s amazing, isn’t it? How they can swivel their ears in different directions to pick up sounds from opposing directions at the same time? Pretty cool…
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August 10, 2010 at 6:45 am
I’m going to go measure my own ears now since I don’t have a donk. I’ll let you know what I come up with. LOL
DI
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August 10, 2010 at 7:01 am
Di,
We’ll be looking forward to seeing the results. 🙂
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August 10, 2010 at 6:57 am
I can just see Bernard, “Whatcha doin? What’s that? What does it taste like?…”
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August 10, 2010 at 7:01 am
CeeCee,
Umm… yes, I do believe that’s exactly what Bernard was saying. 🙂
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August 10, 2010 at 7:19 am
Oh, I just love that little Goober! Happy Birthday in advance Bernard! Love you – mean it!
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August 10, 2010 at 7:55 am
Nancy,
Aww… you know he’ll read your comment. 😉 ♥
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August 10, 2010 at 7:30 am
Golly…I never heard of measuring earspan either. I can’t wait to see what Russell will think when I show up with a mesuring tape. 🙂
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August 10, 2010 at 7:56 am
Rosanne,
Our boys thought we were a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic yesterday. Russell will probably think the same of you. 😉
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August 10, 2010 at 8:03 am
It’s funny…The google ads that popped up were for “Miracle-Ear® Hearing Aids,” “Miracle-Ear® Hearing Aids,” and “Dog Ears Stink & Itch.” I don’t usually pay any attention (sorry, google) but that gave me a chuckle.
I think Ellsworth and Bernard’s measurements might be a little shy–their ears aren’t quite level, and the tape takes a bit of a short-cut across the air in between.
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August 10, 2010 at 11:42 am
EvenSong,
I think you’re right. Between Bernard’s attempts at eating the tape measure and aggravating his brothers, and Don trying to hurry before Bernard struck again, they’re probably more in the realm of “give or take” measurements. 🙂
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August 10, 2010 at 9:08 am
That’s hilarious. I wonder if the same stats are collected for bunnies…
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August 10, 2010 at 11:36 am
Carolynn,
It would appear so.
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/natural_world/animal_extremes/longest_ears_on_a_rabbit.aspx
The longest rabbit ears measured 79 cm (31.125 in) in a complete span on November 1, 2003 at the American Rabbit Breeders Association National Show in Wichita, Kansas, USA. The ears belong to an English Lop called Nipper’s Geronimo who is owned by Waymon and Margaret Nipper of Bakersfield, California, USA.
I posted Nipper’s Geronimo’s picture up above for you.
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August 10, 2010 at 12:07 pm
LOL…that’s awesome. Poor Geronimo must be tripping over his ears all the time. I hope the boys at Morning Bray Farm don’t get ear envy.
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August 10, 2010 at 9:23 am
Those pictures are utterly adorable. “I dunno why you’re doing that, but I’ll humor you.”
I’ve always wished I could have swively ears like a horse or donkey. I love the way the position of their ears changes their expression.
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August 10, 2010 at 11:43 am
Flartus,
Thank you. We do too. 🙂
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August 10, 2010 at 10:31 am
Looks like I will be measuring ears very soon. Never thought of doing that. Hmmmm, very interesting. Will let you know when I measure. May take some time being as there are 8 Longears here!
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August 10, 2010 at 11:43 am
Cindy,
Yup, you’ll be a while! Let us know! 🙂
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August 10, 2010 at 11:51 am
Your boys’ ears are adorable, no matter what the span, but Carolynn’s bunny takes the prize! I can’t imagine how that bunny can hop without stepping on his ears! Fun post…
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August 10, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Lilla,
Thanks. Isn’t the bunny adorable?!
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August 10, 2010 at 12:18 pm
As if George weren’t mad at me already for making him wear a fly mask, then I show up with the tape measure… give or take, his ear span is 25.5″. Alan wanted nothing to do with that part of the experiment.
I measured them for weights while I was at it – George came in at 493 and Alan at 462. Where are your guys on the scale these days?
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August 10, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Carson,
Poor George. 🙂 That puts George and Fergus in the same general ear class? We need to get out there and everyone’s current measurements and will let you know where our guys are on the scale.
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August 10, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Now i’ve gone and started some thing! I suppose now I have to measure mine too LOL.
Linda, That Sam IS one BIG donk! I love the huge ears the mammoths have!
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August 10, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Yes, Mel… you have to measure yours too! 😀
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August 11, 2010 at 9:40 am
Purrcy is 6.25 inches. Of course, he is a cat. Taffy had no interest in participating in the experiment.
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