Old or not, the subject is intriguing. Donkeys and mules have quirky personalities, especially donkeys.
We never had donkeys or mules on our place, but once let a guy keep a few of his horses and a donkey, named Amigo, on our ranch for awhile.
That donkey loved his owner and his family. He'd respond to them like a dog. You could call him like a dog or tell him to go away and he'd comply.
He drank cokes and beer, and would hideously shreek if he saw you with an apple in your hand. Any apple within the vicinity of Amigo was Amigo's apple. If any of the older kids tried to ride him he'd try to buck them off. Not hard, but he'd pitch and try to deter them from staying on him. However, the youngest kid could ride him and make Amigo do whatever he wanted.
We were out there once and a rattlesnake was spotted slithering across a large open area. When we pointed him out, Amigo picked up on the tension and headed straight at it, ears pinned behind his head and ready for war. His owner gave him a wack across the face with an empty feedsack to keep him from heading in the direction of the snake. Amigo couldn't be stopped. I thought that dumbass donkey was surely about to be poisoned. Nope. Amigo stomped the snake into a leathery jelly like he was putting out a grassfire. Even after it was dead he continued to mash it into the ground. Just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder, he **** all over the dead rattler. Just killing it wasn't enough for Amigo. He had to defile the lifeless body of the snake.