Nah...they’re just hillbillies who haven’t forgotten their roots or the history of this road.
Some folks back in Blair’s Valley have Jacob’s Sheep.
Talk about creepy critters....:D
Not far from them is a farm that has Longhorns, Highland Cattle and Brahmas.
I dunno what they’re doing with them, if anything but it’s cool to go by and gawk.
Out near Boonsboro is a herd of Bison.
[they’re eating them]
For several years, we had a “stray Emu” [seriously!] running around.
I haven’t seen it in a while so I’m guessing the last couple of hard winters finally caught up with it.
You’re lucky your Husky actually helps you.
If my Ibizans or Dobermann try to “help” it always wind up creating twice the work for me.
The roll of paper towels she carries for you would be confetti within minutes.
Right now I’m sitting here trying to get up the gumption to go sweep up the shredded newspaper they “helped” me finish reading this morning.
[I should know better by now than to leave the room without taking it with me]
:)
The Brahmas and Longhorns are a beef cattle staple here, because they are so hardy and can thrive on pasturage a lot of other breeds don’t eat-my family has ranched Brahma and Brahma crosses since it became popular early in the last century. The originally native Longhorns were re-adopted later, when people realized that maybe those fat, feedlot cows full of antibiotics weren’t so good for humans after all.
Over the last 15 or so years, a lot of ranchers have been raising those Highland cattle, along with the Galloways- mostly the banded ones that I think look like big, hairy banded Duroc hogs with horns. Their meat is lean and, like Longhorns and Brahmas, they thrive in a pasture rather than a feed lot. Most of the Texas beef from this area labeled “Texas lean” or “Grass fed” is from those hardy breeds-I do not eat any beef but the grass fed/lean, but then I’m one of those annoying people who only eats natural/unprocessed food and does not use either prescription or illicit drugs.
Bison wore a “food” label in most of America until the army of the time got pissed at the Natives and tried to exterminate both them and the Bison they ate-there are several Bison ranches here in the hill country, and they are lovely animals to look at, but notoriously temperamental and dangerous when pissed-the meat is available at butcher shops and the meat counter of one grocery store chain. It is nice and lean and flavorful, but still really pricey. I’ve been told that they don’t calve as readily or often as domestic bovines, so that may be part of the price.
Herds of Emu are all over the place here since being imported for meat about 30 years ago-you can buy Emu at a lot of butcher shops, too but it never really caught on.
I’ve seen those Jacob sheep, but I didn’t know what they were called-they are weird looking. I like the Barbados ones with their huge, curved horns and long-ish hair.