Little Lost Burro

[Music] It was the Beginning of another hot summer day on the great desert. The mountain foothills and the rocky flatlands below were slowly warming beneath the sun's steady rays. The desert life was stirring. One by one, the animals were leaving their homes and hiding places to search for food. A little band of wild burrows had been awake for several hours. They had spent the night together, huddled closely to protect themselves from the chill night wind. But now the sun was up and they were all busy looking for desert plants to eat. Well, almost all of them. One little burrow, Blanco, was still content with his mother's [Music] milk. Blanco's mother took good care of him. No matter what she was doing, she always wanted to know where he was. She made sure he didn't wander too far from her side. Blanco would have been happy to stay with his mother like this forever. But on this particular morning, his mother saw something that would change their lives. [Music] She knew that she and Blanco might be in danger. The riders hadn't seen them. So, for the moment, at least, they seemed safe. But suddenly, the riders were thundering past them. And then, without warning, they were coming right at them. [Music] There was nothing poor Blanco could do to help his mother. These men captured wild burrows and then offered them for sale to prospectors. Burrows are good pack animals. Prospectors use them to carry their equipment up into the [Music] mountains. Blanco's mother didn't want to go into the truck. She didn't want to leave Blanco. Blanco was sure he would never see his mother again. [Music] For the first time in his life, Blanco felt all alone. [Music] His mother was gone. Who was going to take care of him now? Who would protect him and feed him when he was hungry? Would the other burrows They didn't want to be bothered by another burrow's baby. Because none of the burrows wanted to take care of Blanco, it seemed that there was only one thing for him to do. He had to leave and try to find his [Music] mother. Days passed. Blanco was hot and very hungry. And what was worse, he was lost and without a [Music] friend. But what was this? A rabbit. She looked friendly to Blanco. So when the rabbit hopped away, Blanco tagged along behind her. Blanco followed the little rabbit all day and into the night he followed her to a ghost town. She hopped on ahead of Blanco. Now, while Blanco had been following the rabbit, something else had been following them both, a hungry bobcat. The rabbit ran on. She seemed to know her way around the town, but it was all new and strange to Blanco. Now, as Blanco tried to catch up with his friend, the hungry bobcat was doing the same [Music] thing. When Blanco finally came into the town, he couldn't find his friend anywhere, but he did see what was after her. And then he saw the rabbit running for her life. The rabbit and the bobcat ran under the wall of an old wooden house. Just one board was holding it up. Blanco kicked at the board and the wall came down, trapping the bobcat. But the rabbit was safe. The rabbit ran and Blanco followed as fast as he [Music] could. And after the sun had risen on a hot new day, they were far away from the ghost town. When the rabbit stopped at a cool stream, Blanco was glad. He was tired and hot and very [Music] thirsty. The cool water tasted good. Blanco hadn't found his mother, but at least he thought he had found a friend. But then the rabbit saw something. Another [Music] rabbit. And the new friend he thought he had, hopped away. And he was all alone again. Poor Blanco, still without his mother, again without a friend. Now all alone, he wandered about on the desert. Days passed. He was so hungry. Sometimes he tried eating the desert plants, but he hadn't learned which ones were good to eat. He came upon all kinds of interesting creatures. Some were very dangerous. Poor lonely Blanco. How he missed his mother. Now he was sure he would never find her again. It was the beginning of another sad, lonely day for Blanco. And then he heard something. When he saw what it was, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was his mother, loaded down with an old prospector's equipment, heading for the mountains. [Music] The prospector could see that Blanco was his burrow's baby, so he let Blanco tag along. At last, Blanco was where he wanted to be with his mother. She would teach him everything he needed to know, and she would never ever be taken away from him again. [Music] [Music]