And he needed every ounce of that stubbornness to fight for his life when he was trapped down a storm drain for up to 12 hours.
Noah, who is owned by All Saints Church in Melbourn, plunged into the 7ft-deep drain in Heydon, where he was forced to tread water to stay alive.
The 5-year-old donkey was eventually hoisted to safety following a five-hour rescue, which saw Cambridgeshire firefighters use a mechanical excavator, as well as shovels, to break away some of the ground.
Noah, who is looked after by Lovely View Stables, is thought to be the only church-owned donkey in the country and features in All Saints' annual nativity play and Palm Sunday events in Cambridge and Meldreth.
He was seen in his field opposite the King William IV pub in Chishill Road on Monday morning, but by the afternoon he was missing. A search party went looking for him, but it was assumed he was stolen, until one of them spotted him down a drain at 6pm.
Elaine Fisher, who runs the Royston-based stable with her dad and believes the storm drain cover was stolen by metal thieves, said Noah is making a full recovery – and is already back to his bolshie ways.
She said: "He is back in the yard, cutting the rug around the stale and eating well. The vet is popping in again today to have another look at him. He has a few scrapes and bumps on him, which is not surprising really, but nothing broken."
"He's a character and nips a bit. You can tell he is feeling himself again because he is biting."
Noah, who was forced to tread water before he was spotted and held above the surface by his owners, harnessed some of his natural stubbornness to survive the ordeal.
Last year he refused outright to go into the Melbourn church for the nativity play.
Elaine added: "When he wants to be he can be very stubborn. If he decides he doesn't want to do something he will not do it, it doesn't matter how many people are trying to get him to do it.
"He is a really tough cookie."
Roger Mellor, one of the church wardens at Melbourn, said they decided to buy their own donkey when the last one, which they loaned every year, passed away after a decorated career.
He said: "The option of buying our own donkey was looked at and we approached Elaine to see if she could look after it. We make contributions towards it's upkeep. We belive we're the only church in the country to own our own donkey.
"But it's been difficult of late. Last year we could not get him into the church because he was so stubborn and he just didn't fancy it. I don't think he likes going on tile floors."
Jeff Whitlam, crew commander at the fire service, which deployed two fire crews and a rescue vehicle, said: "We'd like to thank everyone who came to help, particularly the machine driver and veterinary staff for all their great work and support.
"The crew worked tremendously hard with persistence and professionalism in what was a long and difficult rescue. It was a great team effort with everyone there and thankfully it had a happy ending."
(Cambridge News - Aug 20, 2015)
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