26 October: Mule Day

Today is National mule day. What is a mule and what are they like? Find out here.

1. Today is Mule Day because it is the anniversary of the day in 1785 when the first mule arrived in Boston, USA. King Charles III of Spain sent it as a gift to George Washington, who was so impressed with the animal that he started breeding them.
2. A mule is the offspring of a male Donkey and a female Horse. The offspring of a male horse and a female donkey is called a hinny.
3. Both mules and hinnies have 63 chromosomes, compared to 64 for horses and 62 for donkeys. The odd number of chromosomes means most mules are sterile – but not all of them. There are no recorded cases of male mules siring offspring but there have been about 60 recorded cases of female mules having foals.
4. A female mule having a foal is such a rare event that in Ancient Greece it was thought to be an bad omen. Herodotus wrote about this happening around the time of Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC. For a long time, scientists didn't think it was even possible.
5. A male mule is called a john or horse mule. A female mule is called a molly or mare.
6. Mules are examples of something called hybrid vigour, which means they are more robust than either of their parents. They live longer, can survive on less food, are more resistant to disease than donkeys or horses. They also seem to display the most desirable characteristics of both species. Mules are more patient under the pressure of heavy weights; their skin is harder and less sensitive than that of horses. Their hooves are harder. They are said to be less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys.
7. A mule makes a sound similar to that of a donkey, but with the whinnying characteristics of a horse (often starts with a whinny, ends in a hee-haw). Mules sometimes whimper.
8. Mules tend to inherit the characteristics of the horses they are bred from, and the work they do is dictated by this. Racing mules are bred from racehorses; mules bred from heavy horses will be able to pull heavy farm vehicles. While tractors have made the mule largely redundant in farm work, breeding mules is a popular hobby, and they do still have their uses. The Amish people, who shun technology, still use them for ploughing. Packs of mules are sometimes used, too, for carrying luggage to wilderness camps where it would be difficult for a motorised vehicle to go. They have a long history of use in warfare, pulling heavy mobile guns, for example, and are still used for this today in Iraq and Afghanistan.
9. Famous Americans who have ridden mules include Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill Cody, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan and Ken Curtis as Festus in the television show Gunsmoke. That mule, although named Ruth, was actually a male.
10. A mule clone was produced by the University of Idaho in 2003. The foal, called Idaho Gem, was the first ever clone of a hybrid animal.

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