• Home
  • Blog
  • Me. Me. Me.
  • Publications
  • That 1st Novel
  • More!
  • Contact
AMY SMITH LINTON

Wild Beastie Domestification

3/22/2016

10 Comments

 
Picture
This time of year, when not perusing seed catalogues, a farmer -- even a Would-Be Farmer -- allows her thoughts to turn lightly toward the origins of farming.  Again.  

It was ingenious to plant a seed and watch over it, lo those 13,000 years ago, but it was absolutely gonzo brainiac to take up animal husbandry. 

Imagine 
that campfire brainstorming session: 

Proto-farmer 1:"Hey, hey –– I know! Let's capture one of those boars and put it in a cage. Then we won't have to hunt it later!"

Proto-farmer 2: "Keep a tusker live? Sounds risky. Howsabout we get us a bunch of goats and steal their milk?"

Another thinker around the fire (who never ends up doing anything like farming, by the way): "Goats? Goats is for sissies, I think yaks are where it's gonna be at..."


Granted, humans tamed wild dogs as far back as 30,000 years ago -- but that was more a hunting partnership than a farming proposition. (Check out this Radio Lab episode about how quickly foxes can be selected for tameness!)
Wholesale domestication started around 11,000 years ago, according to the latest thinking. 11,000 years ago is only a few generations after plant farming had begun. Taming various wild prey animals -- sheep, bees, duck, goats, guinea pigs, llama, cattle –– could not have been easy; go face down a white goose or a tom turkey and then let's talk about, say, a water buffalo.

I'm not exaggerating. The first cows in Europe, aurochs? Seriously, the stuff of nightmares: 1500 lbs of leggy temper, six feet tall at the shoulder and a horn-span of up to seven feet. Categorically NOT tame. The last specimen of the species lived until 1627 in the forests of Poland. She died in the interest of steak, not so surprisingly. 

I just wonder at the gall of the first person to put a thieving hand upon the hairy udder of a wild cow. What could possess a person to try? A dare, maybe? Or maybe impelled by a rescue effort –– a calf or a human baby who needed that milk enough to risk the effort? Some dramatic extremity, no doubt.

Unnatural selection has led from these wild and wooly forebears come the sweet-tempered Jerseys and Gurnseys, and those homey black-and-white gold standards of milk production –– Holsteins.

Me? No, I don't want another cow in my life. I know the ways of young Holsteins from many a winter's day dealing with scours in a veal calf. And there was a year or so when my mother and I swapped the care of a hairy herd of Highland cows for the rent of an old farmhouse. Small cattle, Highland cows, but feisty.

​Anyway, enough cattle for my lifetime.

Maybe.

​But goats, now, huh. Goats...
Picture
10 Comments
George A
3/23/2016 10:41:35 am

I suspect that the domestication of large animals started with the capture of small, weaned young ones after successful killing and eating Mom. That way both the young animal(s) and the human "handlers" could become accustomed to each other as the calf, for example, grew to full size. I'm confident that this experiment had to be repeated over and over before success, as we recognized it, appeared.

Reply
Amy
3/24/2016 10:27:29 am

Sounds plausible. So many happy accidents along the way...

Reply
Greg
3/23/2016 06:32:18 pm

Goats are good, they are tough, fun to watch, and can clear land as good as a small tractor. I won't be milking any however. Been there done that, got the horn.

Reply
Amy
3/24/2016 10:28:39 am

Good on you! I have not milked a goat, though I have a good story about a vet-school buddy who milked a billy-goat to humorous effect...

Reply
manon des chevres
3/24/2016 07:55:16 am

Have always way enjoyed other people's goats. Ferrets with hooves. Atop fences, tree branches, shed roofs. They eats stuff too, like your shirt tail or sweater sleeve. friendlyfarm.com always penned the bigguns but the tiny ones tune up visitors and each other, no problem!

Reply
Amy
3/24/2016 10:33:05 am

Manon -- friendlyfarm.com sounds like a ball. Clean and agreeable surroundings, sounds like Virginia Woolf's ideal place.

Reply
George A
3/24/2016 08:22:47 am

The world would be a poorer place without Feta cheese.

Reply
Amy
3/24/2016 10:47:09 am

Testify, brother!
Feta...and manchego, Humboldt fog, Redwood Hill smoked raw goat-milk cheddar, anything Drunken Goat, Garrotxa.
And halloumi. Lawsie day, now I have to go hit the cheese shop.

Reply
George A.
3/24/2016 11:08:42 am

Sister, you're preaching to the choir.

George A.
3/24/2016 11:10:20 am

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About the Blog

    A lot of ground gets covered on this blog -- from sailboat racing to book suggestions to plain old piffle. 

    To narrow the focus, select one of the  Categories below.

    Follow

    Trying to keep track? Follow me on Facebook or Twitter or if you use an aggregator, click the RSS option below.

    RSS Feed

    Old school? Sign up for the newsletter and I'll shoot you a short e-mail when there's something new.

      Newsletter

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All
    Beauty Products
    Big Parks Trip
    Birds
    Boatbuilding
    Books
    Brains
    Contest & Prize
    Dogs
    Everglades Challenge
    Family Stories
    Farming
    Fashion
    Feminism
    Fiction
    Fish
    Flowers
    Flying Scot Sailboat
    Food
    Genealogy
    Handwork
    Health
    History
    Horses
    I
    International Lightning Class
    Mechanical Toys
    Migraine
    Movie References
    Music
    Piffle
    Pigs And Pork
    Poems
    Sailboat Racing
    Sculpture
    Social Media
    Song
    Subconscious Messages And Dream
    Travel
    Wildlife
    Writing

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Me. Me. Me.
  • Publications
  • That 1st Novel
  • More!
  • Contact