Meet Burrito, a crucial employee at a big solar farm in Tennessee. The 9.5 megawatt facility owned by Volkswagen brought in sheep to keep the vegetation trimmed between the panels, and they were doing a good job. Then they became the object of carnivorous affection for local coyotes. Enter Burrito, who when he came on board quickly began to patrol the perimeter of the site (which powers the production of VW’s EVs).

If unfamiliar animals approach, Burrito reacts immediately. Donkeys naturally protect herd animals from threats. It’s in their nature, despite their “dozy” reputation. Burrito acts as a scout, clearing “paddocks” for safety before the sheep enter to feed. Workers said the donkey even inspected areas before the sheep moved through them.

Once a stray without a home, he is now the most essential “worker” on the property.

UPDATE: Apparently the photo isn't actually of Burrito. And Burrito might not even be the donkey's real name (but then, like with cats, do humans ever REALLY know a donkey's real name?). This picture below is from https://www.vw.com/en/newsroom/future-of-mobility/sheep-solar-power.html

As for the source of my story, it was Bill McKibben's Substack (as was the photo) and it was just TOO CUTE not to share.

@revjss is generally better to just edit your previous message, that way everyone who boosts it gets notificatied about the change

@revjss

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,.....

@revjss
That's mighty good work for an apparently two legged donkey
@revjss i assume, he's always employee of the month? 🌞
what a great picture. thank you for sharing this heartwarming news.
@hosebei - alas the photo might not be of the guard donkey in question. Still, it's a great story. https://www.vw.com/en/newsroom/future-of-mobility/sheep-solar-power.html
How sheep & solar power support the VW Chattanooga plant

Grazing sheep reduces erosion and controls vegetation on a solar farm providing power to the Volkswagen Chattanooga factory.

Volkswagen
@revjss thats really cool 😊
@revjss would that help against wolves also? That would be better than the asses shooting wolves in some places.
@steltenpower @revjss yes, donkeys also help against wolves. Not a pack of wolves, but lone ones. As far as I know they even stomp them until they don't move anymore.
@steltenpower @revjss I didn't know donkeys could shoot.

@revjss

They need to bring in a second one and call it Dorito 😆 or Nacho

@revjss this really needs the #asstodon hashtag :D
@revjss nothing dozy about donkeys. Shame he's got no donkey friend though
@Florapis @revjss Exactly what I was about to post ❤️
@revjss F3in’ Burritooooooo!!!!
@revjss This donkey is awesome. Its owners need to think harder about names, though: a donkey named Burrito is like a horse named Horsey or a cat named Kitty.
@guyjantic @revjss or a dog named Doggo

@vbraun @guyjantic @revjss

Those are all fine names if they make people happy. The animals don't care.

@revjss
And gorgeous, too.
@sunflowerinrain - alas the photo might not be of the guard donkey in question. Still, it's a great story. https://www.vw.com/en/newsroom/future-of-mobility/sheep-solar-power.html
How sheep & solar power support the VW Chattanooga plant

Grazing sheep reduces erosion and controls vegetation on a solar farm providing power to the Volkswagen Chattanooga factory.

Volkswagen
@revjss @sunflowerinrain
Maybe that was the guard donkey that VW used for official testing and the ones used in production are less effective? 😉
@revjss what a beautiful cuteguy
@falcennial - alas the photo might not be of the guard donkey in question. Still, it's a great story. https://www.vw.com/en/newsroom/future-of-mobility/sheep-solar-power.html
How sheep & solar power support the VW Chattanooga plant

Grazing sheep reduces erosion and controls vegetation on a solar farm providing power to the Volkswagen Chattanooga factory.

Volkswagen
@revjss I so much want this to be true! Any provenance for story?

@SusiArnott @revjss

I just went down a rabbithole with this.

This post is lifted almost word for word from The Pulse, or one of the numerous social media posts and news articles that have copied the Pulse. Not sure how reliable their reporting is. They seem to focus on environmental news stories.

https://www.ecoportal.net/en/donkey-protects-solar-grazing-sheep/21620/

I don't know if *this* donkey, exists (the provenance of the photo is vague), but a VW press release mentions donkeys:

'To help keep the sheep safe, Silicon Ranch Corp. employs “guard” donkeys to alert the sheep of any threatening wildlife.'

https://www.vw.com/en/newsroom/future-of-mobility/sheep-solar-power.html

Several articles from 2021 talk about the donkeys and even have photos, but the donkeys are called Gail and Buddy, not Burrito.

https://www.siliconranch.com/stories/bignewes-how-rescue-donkeys-are-protecting-sheep-at-the-vw-chattanooga-solar-plant

So guard donkeys confirmed, but without more evidence like pictures or interviews, the cute donkey called Burrito might be fan fiction.

This donkey guards, patrols, and even maintains a solar plant with more than 33,600 panels running at full capacity

At a Tennessee solar plant, a donkey has been patrolling the area around the panels. Protecting the grazing sheep that management brought in to the site.

ecoportal.net
@fullfathomfive @SusiArnott @revjss just emailed Silicon Ranch and asked. "IS THIS REALLY BURRITO? FANS NEED TO KNOW!" 😂
@kevbob @SusiArnott @revjss Mastodon is on the case! We will confirm the provenance of all cute animal pictures! 🕵️
@fullfathomfive @kevbob @revjss Would love to share this story if true, with various professional and personal friends! Long story, but see a bunch of work from the twenty-teens: https://www.susiarnott.co.uk/home/archive/donkeys/
Donkeys – Susi Arnott/Walking Pictures

@SusiArnott - alas the photo might not be of the guard donkey in question. Still, it's a great story. https://www.vw.com/en/newsroom/future-of-mobility/sheep-solar-power.html
How sheep & solar power support the VW Chattanooga plant

Grazing sheep reduces erosion and controls vegetation on a solar farm providing power to the Volkswagen Chattanooga factory.

Volkswagen
@fullfathomfive @SusiArnott @revjss the stuff happening to the panels on the left side of the picture if you zoom in doesn't bode well

@cold @SusiArnott @revjss Yeah the photo is a bit sus, and all the stories on that Pulse website read like press releases run through an AI to me. The name "Burrito" sounds like something an LLM would name a donkey.

But at least there are real guardian donkeys! There's a positive and cute story here. Yay for Gail and Buddy.

@fullfathomfive @cold @revjss
I've only filmed/worked with donkeys doing hard physical labour; likewise the folk I'd want to share this story with! Hence my concern for veracity:)
Thanks a million to Jeff for sharing a better story link (with a different donkey photo that also credits photographer:)
Ping @CrispinHughes
https://www.
susiarnott.co.uk/home/archive/
donkeys/
@revjss and yet they pay him hee-haw 😢
@revjss also he is super cute
@revjss Whattaguy!!!! Handsome, too
@revjss Thanks for sharing. I love stories like this. Go Burrito!
@revjss @User47 There are tons of wild burros in the southwest. This looks like a good home for the ones they trap and need to place.
@revjss Bloody LOVE this.

@revjss

Regarding provenance, this article from Volkswagen themselves seems to confirm: https://www.vw.com/en/newsroom/future-of-mobility/sheep-solar-power.html

How sheep & solar power support the VW Chattanooga plant

Grazing sheep reduces erosion and controls vegetation on a solar farm providing power to the Volkswagen Chattanooga factory.

Volkswagen
@revjss Maybe a solution for all the farmers here in Sweden that want to kill every Wolf, Lynx and Fox that even looks at their sheep. Hah, who am I kidding they just want to kill things with their guns.

@aanee

😥

@revjss Yeah, sorry, this sounds like a really cool and good solution to the problem. Also with donkey(!). While I'm just depressed about people that aren't interested in solutions.

@revjss Photo is very likely AI, unfortunately. You might want to avoid whatever source you got it from—if there's AI images, there's likely misinformation in the text as well.

@crystalvisits

@revjss How exactly does he react?

@revjss

Alpaccas and Llamas are the same. They make excellent sheep guardians and will actively deal with threats and predators.

They are getting more common here in Wales 🙂

@revjss I wonder, if donkeys also would protect chicken? 🐤 
@revjss wow! The donkey is able to react and immediately determine ‘friend or foe’. They must be using AI.