“Maybe he wants me to take’em out,” kayaker helps donkey in “thorny” situation

Donkey approaches kayaker at Arizona's Lake Pleasant and seems to ask for help with cactus thorns

LAKE PLEASANT, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Last week, when kayaker Travis Ward got out of his truck and set his kayak in the water at Lake Pleasant, he had a real connection with nature.

"At that point, I had noticed two donkeys coming towards me," Ward said.

Ward says one of the donkey's started approaching him. That's when Ward realized something was wrong.

"He got closer and I saw that there were thorns in his nose and his ear as well," Ward said.

The donkey had spines in his nose, ears and bod, likely from the thousands of saguaro cacti that surround the lake.

"I could just tell he was in pain," Ward said. "I realized he was in trouble. And so I was like, you know, maybe he wants me to take him out."

Ward believed the animal was asking him for help. Ward approached the animal and started plucking out the thorns.

"He was being very like very, still, very calm and he just let me get all of them out," Ward says.

Ward pulled about 40 thorns out of the donkey's nose, ears and body. Ward says the donkey thanked him in his own way.

"He does the donkey noise for about a minute," Ward said. "And then he takes off."