Assateague Island National Seashore, the 37 mile long pristine Atlantic barrier island straddling Virginia and Maryland, boasts world famous wild ponies. Fifteen hundred miles south, the Virgin Island archipelago, mostly thinly developed mountainous tropical islands has it’s not so famous, but well-loved feral donkeys. Donkeys have been a key part of Virgin Island life for centuries. And, donkeys still have their day on the principle islands of St. Croix (US), St. Thomas (US), St. John (US), Tortola (UK), Virgin Gorda (UK) and Anegada (UK). About 300 of these “burros” roam the forests and yards of St. John, trimming roadside bushes, cutting grasses the old fashioned way and delighting tourists and residents alike. Anegada has also has a few hundred donkeys among its 2,000 wild hoofed animals. As transportation, they had (and still have) advantages over internal combustion engines that go beyond the price of fuel. An older gentlemen from St. Thomas laughingly told me their donkey would bring his father home on Saturday nights when he’d had too much rum to find his own way. When he was a boy, every family had a donkey. It was the only way, other than sailing, to get around the often steep, rugged island trails. Sadly, donkeys are growing more scarce on some islands as jeeps and pick-up trucks replace their once dominant roles in personal and farm produce transport. Last August, a story in the British Virgin Islands Beacon, for instance, was headlined “Wanted: Donkeys.” The Beacon quoted several native “belongers” who bemoaned the dearth of donkeys. Tortola farmer Moviene Fahie explained how she tamed them: “I just talk with him, treat him good, feed him good, bathe him, shampoo him,” she said. “And he come tame.” On nearby St. John, where two-thirds of the island is the U.S. Virgin Islands National…