I read the Foothill Agrarian, a shepherd and UC extension guy. He's studying large guardian dogs for loss prevention.
In a non-psycho version of this, he says that the LGDs imprint on the specific group they're raised with (their flock, not just any flock of sheep) and he does, indeed, put his puppies out with the flock EVEN THOUGH there are cold nights and I personally would like to snuggle them all. But I'm pretty sure he also socializes his dogs (LGDs and the herders) for people.
You can imprint dogs on a Flock of Seagulls.
You shouldn't do that, they were a really overrated band.
But dogs like to run, run so far away.
I can't figure out how to riff at all on this one.
I would have thought it was impossible to train dogs adequately without humanizing them. But my mental picture of herding dogs is the Border Collie, with the whole intricate training regime. But Britain doesn't have big predators anymore, and is also a different country on a different continent, so.
It's just off the continent and overly proud of it.
7: the confusion is that "sheepdog" means two different things: a smallish, fast, highly trained intelligent dog that helps the shepherd herd sheep, and a huge dog that scares off wolves and similar predators. In Britain we only have (and need) the first one.
I was also surprised there are Peruvian shepherds in Idaho, but I guess I shouldn't have been.
They had to get them from somewhere once the Basques stopped coming over.
That is an interesting article. Thanks.
Mossy, I didn't get to the previous article you linked in time, so I'll double the compliment: really enjoyed your last two posts.
I don't understand how anyone can resist petting and picking up those adorable puppies! Also, people suck. Again, always. I don't understand not making a small investment in socialization and basic veterinary care for a working dog (no rabies vaccine?!).
Thanks for compliments. I too was surprised at ranchers contributing to a population of "bigger than coyote" feral dogs with rabies.
(no rabies vaccine?!)
They're worried about the mercury.
I don't see any mention of the dogs, really: https://www.goodranchers.com/
13: A bunch of them came to the western US initially for mining gold and silver and a lot of them turned to ranching. There were Basque ranching operations all over the Great Basin. So you get OG farmboys in ID, NV, etc with Basque surnames.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Cenarrusa
Similarly, there was a big Cornish influx into Butte MT. Up there they for real still have events like the "Great Pasty Throwdown".
https://www.ncat.org/great-pasty-throwdown-set-for-june-8/
"Great Pasty Throwdown"
It's at a strip bar now.
I'm a little surprised I didn't remark for TFA about the Basque museum in Boise. I always eat at the Basque Block when I'm there, which isn't all that often, admittedly.
Basque sheepherding in the Sierra is also pretty famous. There are remnant Basque populations in the San Joaquin Valley. I halfway want to try some of the restaurants ('cept that I fear the dishes will be 'meat with your meat'. You see Basque names and festivals around.
There is also a long history of lonely Basque shepherds carving pornographic images into birches, which have aged into historical relics and not just horny graffiti.
Did they just come over for mining? Seeing as there were massive sheep drives across Iberia since 2000BC or whenever.
Oh, hey, Megan, we just started season 3 of Goliath on Amazon. Seen it?
I always like a good water rights drama, and this looks, 2 episodes in, to be epic. The almond company seems kind of like a cult!
http://www.unfogged.com/archives/comments_14845.html See comments 255-265
No - I see no tv and maybe three movies a year.
This one screenwriter dude wrote me to ask how to make his screenplay about the drinking water shortages in poor Valley communities realistic. We gchatted a few times. I pointed him to what I thought were good sources.
He finally sent me the screenplay. I was horrified.
There were all these characters! And they had complicated histories! And hot lesbians met and had sex that night. No one wants to hot people having sex! One character was breaking into rich people's houses to fill water bottles to sell to people and humans can't carry enough water to profitably sell.
SO MUCH ACTION, and no one at all talking about agendas and whether they could be posted in time to avoid a Brown Act violation and what might be happening in closed session.
I wrote him that I was maybe not his intended audience and we left it at that.
It's always best when the sex scenes are essential to the meeting agenda. Seems less exploitative.
9. We also have Old English Sheepdogs, which are medium to large sized animals bred to look like sheep so that the sheep would follow them around. They are also about as intelligent as sheep, but can be trained to follow simple orders.
Do you have to give them in Anglo-Saxon?
Their ears are all covered in fur, so if you try that they just look at you like "hwaet did you just say?"
Old friends 'neath curious titles oft are found;
Come, pass the Old English Cocktail Olives round!
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UyFxCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT326&lpg=PT326&dq=frayn+old+english+cocktail+olives&source=bl&ots=qh6TxTIe_n&sig=ACfU3U2zGg5xuBsHpWDoa7NCf7Qfi6cpMw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiE5f6Oh9jlAhUdURUIHcbDA5cQ6AEwEXoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=frayn old english cocktail olives&f=false
Did they just come over for mining?
My understanding is the initial driver was mining but mining is really damn hard and they noticed there's a zillion acres of suitable sheep range and no one taking advantage. I imagine they started sending word back and after that a lot of them were coming for ranching rather than looking for gold or silver.
There were several waves of emmigration from the Basque region to the US, for different reasons, over many decades. They didn't put all of the Basques in one exit.
And in the earlier period, the Basque towns were better known for their hunting dogs than their herding dogs, as reflected in the classic mystery, The Hound of the Basquervilles.
||
Other Chinese diplomats have worn variants of the Mao suit on occasion over the years; mostly they've stuck to western dress. But those who have presented their credentials in recent weeks, in places as far apart as India and Denmark, have done so wearing black Mao suits.|>
41: Farther down the article, some truly useful information.
The Mao suit was invented not by Chairman Mao, but rather by his nationalist rival Sun Yat-Sen. In China, it's known as the "Sun Yat-Sen suit
I didn't understand the assignment.
Oh, honey. Resources are available for dyslexia, you just have to apply.
I somewhat doubt either of them actually invented it.
Like everything else, it was Tesla's invention.
No! I invented it!
Calling Sun Yat-Sen "Mao's nationalist rival" is kind of a bonkers version of history.
And the Chinese call it a Zhongsan suit, not a Sun Yat-Sen suit.
22: Around Fresno, they serve Basque-American or Hotel-Basque, grounded in the late 1900s tradition. So they usually come with a setup of salad, potato salad (with shrimp at my favorite place), soup, spaghetti, rolls, and another side or two served family style. Then a wave of your entrees -- garlic pork chops are delicious -- then a scoop of ice cream or sherbet to finish.
You can just order the setup, sans entree and be quite content... but the pork chops are really tasty and reheat well the next day. It's not an everyday treat, because it's way too much food but hard to say no to.
47 is a good point, but 48 is just being pedantic.
Speaking of pedantic, I just learned that "La Brea Tar Pits" means "the tar pit tar pits." I don't know who to complain to.
One of your earlier links, Mossy, led me here: the curious tale of a conservation org in Mongolia trying to monopolize the supply of ancestral herding dogs, and offer them as incentives to adhere to a strict sustainable-herding protocol.
The severe Mongolian winters that wipe out millions of livestock are becoming more frequent, so herders are overcompensating for this - and for losses to hunting by predators, which include snow leopards, foxes, wolves and birds of prey - by keeping larger numbers of goats.
Historically the only dogs in Mongolia, bankhar have long been prized by nomadic families as effective protectors against these predators. Their presence can reduce the number of animals lost to predators . . . So far, the dog project's data shows an average 93.7 per cent reduction in livestock losses to predators, based on a sample size of 30 dogs.
From another angle, today I read these anecdotal observations about the effect of hunting on ranch coyote populations -- obviously this isn't peer-reviewed or anything, but I thought it was completely fascinating. Curious how the model would hold up under scrutiny. Sorry in advance for these long quotes:
For example, non hunted coyote in cattle ranches (4000 acres or more) seem to develop small, stable packs and territory. The food and ecosystem are abundant in large ranches. If the cattle can range, grass grows leaving vast regions of insects, and rodents. The pups learn early to forage on grasshoppers, mice. Very predictable quiet patterns. Often seen in distance in diurnal behaviors. By Fall, usually 2-3 pups remain. (accidents and natural predators curb litter survival) Pups seem to want to hang with pack a year or 2. Also, prey is scavenged until gone. A deer dying from being hit by car (running off to die in brush) or fawns harvested are eaten and visited until gone. Nothing is wasted.
The contrast again in ranches that hunt coyote hard is almost shocking. I have determined large, sheep operations are very challenging for Coyotes to coexist peacefully. If it's large, LGD [livestock guardian dogs?] can only be in so many places. Also, large herds of sheep graze the land intensely. The cropped grass becomes a giant short lawn, unsuitable habitat for rodents, insects etc..if sheep are grazing long, you'll notice hardly any sounds of crickets etc...and blackberry bushes are cut by ranchers because sheep get entangled. So the lack of forage, food and cover changes the setting. Add to this intense human hunting. Very intense. The coyote often become nocturnal. The closely cropped land and human hunters do not favor open, relaxed foraging. There are minimal rodents. So the coyote tend to hole up all day and hunt far and wide very hard at night with time as a factor. And pressure. Another complication-large herds of sheep especially isolated always have old, sick, hurt or dead. Or a scattering of lambs in all directions. The coyote scavenge dead sheep, or prey on lambs. Their pups are weaned on sheep. . . .
Scroll to the end to see the monstrous offspring of a coyote and a sheepdog. Quick search on "sheep ranch biodiversity" got me mostly stuff like this, so idk.
1. Those Mongol dogs are magnificent and everyone should click that link.
2. The coyote stuff is fascinating, and leads me to conclude that we all have an obligation to wear less wool and eat more beef. That this happens to confirm my biases shouldn't be held against the conclusion.
3. Link last: that seems to be talking about using sheep around residences instead of mowing, so not really ranching? I saw this thing recently, for instance. (Also Peruvians.)
I've been wearing more wool the past couple years. Let's the house be heated less and you can't really wear cotton while hiking in my part of the country.
I'm thinking of getting a beaver felt hat also.
Are you eating more beef at least?
I don't know about more, but certainly I eat a lot of beef.
There were not many sheep in Nebraska, I think because they eat the grass down too far for it to recover. My grandfather had cows, pigs, and chickens. I only recently learned that most of the pigs he raised were for insulin, not eating.
The main business was and is corn and soy beans.
In my defense, last night we ate pork chops.
I'm thinking of making meatballs this weekend. Mixing beef, veal, pork, and cheese for best flavor/texture.
You guys, Barry wants coyotes to be mercilessly hunted by sheep ranchers. Other than that I'm sure he's a totally okay person.
The coyote-wolf hybrids are supposed to be surging in the east, where there isn't enough wilderness for a wolf, but the deer are too big for a normal coyote.
The U.S. wool industry seems pretty meager, although you can pry my Smartwool socks from my cold, seemingly dead feet. (Oh sure, the Raynaud's syndrome would just go away if I ate more beef, but there are a few negative externalities associated with cattle ranching... hang on, let me see if I can think of them...)
If I can't make jokes in bad taste what's even the point of this place.
I'm wearing Smartwool socks now. I like them better than Darntough, but there's no getting around that they don't last as long.
Lift your game, Mobes. Darn tougher, not smarter.
They're tough because they have a lot of nylon. That's why they aren't as comfortable.
Darn with cotton thread. Even things out.
I'm just riffing! I think now you can say something about how ironically, if I'd stuck to unpalatable synthetic leather shoes instead of caving and buying leather, the coyotes wouldn't nibble my exsanguinated toes after I collapse due to my low-protein diet... hmm, maybe you're better at this than I am.
They aren't beef and have protein.
But are they coyote-friendly?
Chickpea shoes are just terrible.
You use them as the insole on a leather shoe.
77: When you get snowed in on a mountain they need a lot less boiling.
79: Obligatory cooking video -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0DOnNK3Wg
I like about a quarter of what's in VQR. The Atlantic is OK, I liked the extract from a Hoffa surveillance book in the most recent one a lot.