I’ve never
seen someone herd livestock before. When went to swim under a waterfall, our
bus dropped us off on a farming family’s property. The path to the waterfall went
through their fields and grazing land; at the top of the path there was a herd
of grazing cows. Nicaraguan cows look very different from North American cows:
they’re a creamy color and they have solid lumpy bodies with large dark eyes.
A matronly
woman guarded the path’s entrance with her pre-teen daughter and three or
four-year-old son. When we were waiting for the bus back she walked out into
the middle of the path making a “Duck, duck, duck” sound at the cows. In
response, the herd (about five animals) came out of the trees and gathered onto
the path. The woman tied up a calf and led the adults away with her voice and a
switch. The little boy watched her intently from the path, occasionally
imitating her “Duck, duck” sound.
It was
fascinating to observe the cows’ relationship with their owner. They recognized
the woman as their superior and obeyed her, but were also intimidated by her.
In America we emphasize humane treatment towards animals to the point of
treating them like children. Here animals are a means of survival and people
cannot afford to coddle them. Even children, whom are kept safe obsessively by
North American parents, aren’t coddled here. The mother left her little boy
alone with us foreigners as she went off to herd the cows. Leaving a young child
alone with strangers is unheard of in the United States.
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