Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. He led the first European expeditions to the Caribbean, Central America, South America, initiating the permanent European colonization of the Americas. Columbus discovered the viable sailing route to the Americas, a continent, not known to the Old World. While what he thought he had discovered was a route to the Far East, he is credited with the opening of the Americas for conquest and settlement by Europeans. Columbus's early life is somewhat obscure, but scholars agree that he was born in the Republic of Genoa and spoke a dialect of Ligurian as his first language, he went to sea at a young age and travelled as far north as the British Isles and as far south as what is now Ghana. He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo and was based in Lisbon for several years, but took a Spanish mistress. Though self-educated, Columbus was read in geography and history.
He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade. After years of lobbying, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain agreed to sponsor a journey west, in the name of the Crown of Castile. Columbus left Spain in August 1492 with three ships, after a stopover in the Canary Islands made landfall in the Americas on 12 October, his landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani. Columbus subsequently visited Cuba and Hispaniola, establishing a colony in what is now Haiti—the first European settlement in the Americas since the Norse colonies 500 years earlier, he arrived back in Spain in early 1493. Word of his discoveries soon spread throughout Europe. Columbus would make three further voyages to the New World, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, the eastern coast of Central America in 1502. Many of the names he gave to geographical features—particularly islands—are still in use.
He continued to seek a passage to the East Indies, the extent to which he was aware that the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain. Columbus's strained relationship with the Spanish crown and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, to protracted litigation over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown. Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration and colonization that lasted for centuries, helping create the modern Western world; the transfers between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as the Columbian exchange, the period of human habitation in the Americas prior to his arrival is known as the Pre-Columbian era. Columbus's legacy continues to be debated, he was venerated in the centuries after his death, but public perceptions have changed as recent scholars have given attention to negative aspects of his life, such as his role in the extinction of the Taíno people, his promotion of slavery, allegations of tyranny towards Spanish colonists.
Many landmarks and institutions in the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including the country of Colombia. The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus, his name in Ligurian is Cristoffa Corombo, in Italian Cristoforo Colombo, in Spanish is Cristóbal Colón, in Portuguese is Cristóvão Colombo. He was born before 31 October 1451 in the territory of the Republic of Genoa, though the exact location remains disputed, his father was Domenico Colombo, a middle-class wool weaver who worked both in Genoa and Savona and who owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked as a helper. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pellegrino, Giacomo were his brothers. Bartolomeo worked in a cartography workshop in Lisbon for at least part of his adulthood, he had a sister named Bianchinetta. Columbus never wrote in his native language, presumed to have been a Genoese variety of Ligurian: his name in the 16th-century Genoese language would have been Cristoffa Corombo.
In one of his writings, he says he went to sea at the age of 10. In 1470, the Columbus family moved to Savona. In the same year, Christopher was on a Genoese ship hired in the service of René of Anjou to support his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Naples; some modern historians have argued that he was not from Genoa but, from the Aragon region of Spain or from Portugal. These competing hypotheses have been discounted by mainstream scholars. In 1473, Columbus began his apprenticeship as business agent for the important Centurione, Di Negro and Spinola families of Genoa, he made a trip to Chios, an Aegean island ruled by Genoa. In May 1476, he took part in an armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry valuable cargo to northern Europe, he docked in Bristol and Galway, Ireland. In 1477, he was in Iceland. In the autumn of 1477, he sailed on a Portuguese ship from Galway to Lisbon, where he found his brother Bartolomeo, they continued trading for the Centurione family. Columbus based himself in Lisbon from 1477 to 1485.
He married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, daughter of the Porto Santo governor and Portuguese nobleman of
Ankole-Watusi
The Ankole-Watusi is a modern American breed of domestic cattle. It derives from the Ankole group of Sanga cattle breeds of central Africa, it is characterized by large horns. The Ankole-Watusi derives from cattle of Ankole type imported to Germany as zoo specimens in the early twentieth century. From Germany, these spread to other European zoos; some were imported to the United States, in 1960 a herd was started in New York State by cross-breeding some of them with an unrelated Canadian bull.:110 A breed society, the Ankole Watusi International Registry, was established in 1983,:110 and in 1989 a breed standard was drawn up. In 2016, the total number for the breed was thought to be 1500 head, some 80% of them in the United States.:110 The Ankole-Watusi may be a number of different colors, but is red. The horns are unusually large, with a wide spread:110 and the largest circumference found in any cattle breed. Guinness World Records lists a bull named CT Woodie with a horn circumference of 103.5 cm and a steer named Lurch, with horns measuring 95.25 cm, as record-holders.
Media related to Ankole-Watusi at Wikimedia Commons
Steer riding
Steer riding is a rodeo youth event, an introductory form of bull riding for younger riders between the ages of seven and fourteen. Instead of bucking bulls, the children ride steers that buck. Steers are used because they are known to have a less volatile temperament than bulls and many breeds weigh less than bulls, which makes them a perfect stepping stone to junior bulls; the steers weigh between 500 to 1,000 pounds. Steer riding follows mutton busting and calf riding as the participant ages and grows. Many young and aspiring bull riders who train in steer riding compete in the National Junior Bullriders Association; the National Junior Bullriders Association holds these annual contests: 6 & Under Mutton Busting 8 & Under Calf Riding 11 & Under Steer Riding 13 & Under Peewee Bullriding 15 & Under Jr. Bullriding 19 & Under Sr. BullridingRiders use equipment and riding techniques that are similar to adult bull riding; the steers are equipped with the following: a flank strap – the flank strap is placed around a steer's flank, just in front of the hind legs, to encourage bucking.
And they use a "steer rope" – a rope that goes around the steer for the rider to hang onto with a bell underneath. The riders wear batwing chaps, spurs. For safety, they use protective vests and helmets with a face mask that resemble those worn by hockey goalies. Events are broken down by age brackets. Parental permission is required for their children to compete, they must sign a liability waiver, it is possible for competitors to be injured in the event. Like bull riding, riders must stay on for eight seconds for a qualified ride. Half of the score is awarded for the cowboy’s ability to ride, the other half for the steer’s ability to buck. One difference is that in some steer riding competitions, riders are allowed to hang on with both hands, they can choose to compete riding one-handed, like the adults, but if they do, they fall under the same rules as bull riding and can be disqualified for grabbing the steer with both hands. Riders can be disqualified for touching the animal or themselves during the ride.
Failure to stay on for the full 8 seconds or a disqualification results in a no score. Riding steers allows riders to develop needed skills before taking on bulls; as bulls are being bred to be more athletic and dangerous, it is more important than for adolescent and young adults to get all of the experience they need before taking on bulls. One man, a former PRCA World Champion Bull Rider, Cody Custer, discusses this issue at length on his web site; when youngsters take on "junior bulls" that only a decade or two ago were considered pro level bulls, they have an low success rate and get discouraged or injured beyond what is reasonably acceptable. There are some steers not used in rodeo who have been trained not to buck and instead are gentled to be ridden. Most people who have trained their cattle to be ridden have used them to perform similar tasks which horses perform, such as trail riding and running. However, they do require different handling than horses, it should be noted that some breeds of cattle are more conducive than others.
Mutton busting Miniature bull riding Goat tying Youth Bull Riding - Cody Custer Too Much Bull
American Milking Devon
The American Milking Devon is a breed of cattle from the United States. Derived from British North Devon cattle brought to North America in the 17th century, the two strains have since diverged significantly. Modern North Devons have been bred to be used exclusively for beef production, while American Milking Devons are a multi-purpose animal akin to the stock which first took the transatlantic journey. Despite their name, they are suited to meat production and to work as draft animals. Considered to be one of the oldest and purest breeds of American cattle in existence, American Milking Devons are exceedingly rare. In 1623, a small shipment of North Devon cattle from north Devonshire arrived in the Plymouth Colony. Though cattle had been imported to the continent by the Spanish much earlier, this was the first arrival of British stock to the Americas; the Milking Devon spread along the east coast as far south as Florida, its multi-purpose ability to provide labor and milk was valued by farmers.
But beginning in the 19th century, the Shorthorn breed began to be preferred by farmers for dual-purpose cattle, by 1900 the Milking Devon was found outside New England. By the middle of the 20th century, numbers had dwindled more and the market for triple purpose cattle had disappeared; the breed reached its low point with fewer than 100 head. Today, Milking Devons are still one of the most endangered breeds of cattle in the world, but with the aid of organizations such as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, numbers have begun to rebound slightly. At any given time, 600 living animals are registered as purebred with the breed society; the American Milking Devon is one of only a few triple purpose cattle breeds left in the West, being valued for meat and draft. They are medium-sized cattle: cows average 1,100 pounds and bulls 1,600 pounds; the coat is a dark, glossy red color, the horns are white, ideally with black tips. They are active and strong for their size, making them valued for use as oxen.
However, as some of the most active draft breeds, they are not well-suited to beginning drovers. This breed originated in USA Milking Devons are physically hardy, able to survive well on forage. Though Milking Devons are not selected for dairy production in the 21st century, the butterfat content of their milk is comparable to that of the Jersey. List of cattle breeds Carol. Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats and Pigs. Storey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60342-036-5. Nabhan, Gary Paul. Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods. Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN 978-1-933392-89-9. "Milking Devon Cattle". Albc-usa.org. American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. "Milking Devon Cattle". Ansi.okstate.edu. Oklahoma State University Dept. of Animal Science. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. "American Milking Devon Cattle". Ark of Taste. Slow Food USA. Associated Press. "Farmers Try to Preserve Dwindling Breeds". Fox News. "Milking Devon Cattle". Mountvernon.org.
Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. American Milking Devon Cattle Association
Indian aurochs
The Indian aurochs was a subspecies of the extinct aurochs. It is considered the wild ancestor of the domestic zebu cattle, found in the Indian subcontinent and has been introduced in many other parts of the world, like Africa and South America. In contrast, the domesticated taurine cattle breeds, which are native to Europe, the Near East, other parts of the world, are descendants of the Eurasian aurochs. According to IUCN, the Indian aurochs disappeared before the 13th century AD, when the only subspecies standing was Bos primigenius primigenius whose range was by restricted to Europe; the wild population of Indian aurochs was extinct millennia earlier than that. The Indian aurochs is known from subfossil remains; these show slight differences to the Eurasian aurochs. The Indian aurochs was smaller than its Eurasian counterpart but had proportionally larger horns; because the range of the aurochs was continuous from Portugal to India, it is uncertain whether there was a clear distinction or a continuum between the Eurasian and Indian subspecies.
The Indian aurochs diverged from the Eurasian aurochs about 100,000 - 200,000 years ago. This has been shown by comparison of DNA from zebus and taurine cattle breeds, the living descendants of these two aurochs forms; the Indian aurochs is sometimes regarded as a distinct species. Zebu cattle are phenotypically distinguished from taurine cattle by the presence of a prominent shoulder hump; the aurochs originated about 2 million years ago in spread westwards. The Indian aurochs roamed in the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs throughout the Indian subcontinent from Baluchistan, the Indus valley and the Ganges valley to south India. Most remains are from the north of India, on the Kathiawar Peninsula, along the Ganges, from the area of the Narmada River. However, bone remains of the Indian aurochs are present in the south as well, such as the Deccan area and along the Krishna area; the wild Indian aurochs survived into neolithic times, when it was domesticated around 9,000 YBP, co-existed with human pastoralism spreading throughout India around 5,500–4,000 YBP.
The youngest known remains from southern India, which belong to wild Indian aurochs are from Banahalli in Karnataka, with an age of about 4200 years old. In northern India, the most recent remains date from 1,800 BC, from Koldihwa/Mahagara, Uttar Pradesh. Possible predators preying on the wild type of the zebu were big cats such as lions and tigers, as well as other predatory mammals such as dholes and giant hyenas during prehistoric times; the Indian aurochs was domesticated in northern India, producing indicine cattle. The primary centre of the Indian aurochs' domestication was most the Indus River valley, now the Baluchistan region in Pakistan; the domestication process seems to have been prompted by the arrival of new crop species from the Near East around 9,000 YBP. Human pastoralism, enabled by domestic cattle, spread throughout the subcontinent around 5,500–4,000 YBP. Secondary domestication events - instances of additional genetic diversity acquired from interbreeding domesticated proto-indicine stock with wild aurochs cows - occurred frequently in the Ganges basin but less so in southern India.
It was in the Ganges valley, in Uttar Pradesh, that the most recent evidence of wild aurochs was found. Domestic zebu are recorded from the Indus region since 6000 BC and from south India, the middle Ganges region, Gujarat since 2000-3500 BC. Domestic cattle seem to have been absent in southern China and southeast Asia until 2000-1000 BC, when indicine cattle first appeared there. A feral population of zebu cattle is found in the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh; the zebu were left there as a potential prey for Asiatic lions and will thus fill the ecological role of their wild ancestors. Online link to Bos namadicus skull in: Raphael Pumpelly: Explorations in Turkestan: Expedition of 1904: vol.2, p. 361
Feral
A feral animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some cases, contributed to extinction of indigenous species; the removal of feral species is a major focus of island restoration. A feral animal is one that has escaped from a domestic or captive status and is living more or less as a wild animal, or one, descended from such animals. Other definitions include animals that have changed from being domesticated to being wild, natural, or untamed; some common examples of animals with feral populations are horses, goats and pigs. Zoologists exclude from the feral category animals that were genuinely wild before they escaped from captivity: neither lions escaped from a zoo nor the sea eagles re-introduced into the UK are regarded as feral. Domesticated plants that revert to wild are referred to as escaped, naturalized, or sometimes as feral crops.
Individual plants are known as volunteers. Large numbers of escaped plants may become a noxious weed; the adaptive and ecological variables seen in plants that go wild resemble those of animals. Feral populations of crop plants, along with hybridization between crop plants and their wild relatives, brings a risk that genetically engineered characteristics such as pesticide resistance could be transferred to weed plants; the unintended presence of genetically modified crop plants or of the modified traits in other plants as a result of cross-breeding is known as "adventitious presence". Certain familiar animals go feral and while others are much less inclined to wander and fail promptly outside domestication; some species will detach from humans and pursue their own devices, but do not stray far or spread readily. Others depart and are gone, seeking out new territory or range to exploit and displaying active invasiveness. Whether they leave and venture far, the ultimate criterion for success is longevity.
Persistence depends on their ability to establish themselves and reproduce reliably in the new environment. Neither the duration nor the intensity with which a species has been domesticated offers a useful correlation with its feral potential; the cat returns to a feral state if it has not been socialized when young. These cats if left to proliferate, are considered to be pests in both rural and urban areas, may be blamed for devastating the bird and mammal populations. A local population of feral cats living in an urban area and using a common food source is sometimes called a feral cat colony; as feral cats multiply it is difficult to control their populations. Animal shelters attempt to adopt out feral cats kittens, but are overwhelmed with sheer numbers and euthanasia is used. In rural areas, excessive numbers of feral cats are shot. More the "trap-neuter-return" method has been used in many locations as an alternative means of managing the feral cat population; the goat is one of the oldest domesticated creatures, yet goes feral and does quite well on its own.
Sheep are close contemporaries and cohorts of goats in the history of domestication, but the domestic sheep is quite vulnerable to predation and injury, thus seen in a feral state. However, in places where there are few predators, they get on well, for example in the case of the Soay sheep. Both goats and sheep were sometimes intentionally released and allowed to go feral on island waypoints frequented by mariners, to serve as a ready food source; the dromedary camel, domesticated for well over 3,000 years, will readily go feral. A substantial population of feral dromedaries, descended from pack animals that escaped in the 19th and early 20th centuries, thrives in the Australian interior today. Water buffalo run rampant in Northern Australia; the Australian government encourages the hunting of feral water buffalo because of their large numbers. Cattle have been domesticated since the neolithic era, but can do well enough on open range for months or years with little or no supervision, their ancestors, the aurochs, were quite fierce, on par with the modern Cape buffalo.
Modern cattle those raised on open range, are more docile, but when threatened can display aggression. Cattle those raised for beef, are allowed to roam quite and have established long term independence in Australia, New Zealand and several Pacific Islands along with small populations of semi-feral animals roaming the southwestern United States and northern Mexico; such cattle are variously called scrubbers or cleanskins. Most free roaming cattle, however untamed, are too valuable not to be rounded up and recovered in settled regions. Horses and donkeys, domesticated about 5000 BC, are feral in open grasslands worldwide. In Portugal, feral horses are called Sorraia. Other isolated feral populations exist, including the Banker horse, they are referred to as "wild horses", but this is a misnomer. There are "wild" horses that have never been domesticated, most notably Przewalski's horse. While the horse was indigenous to North America, the wild ancestor died out at the end of the last Ice Age. In both Australia and the Americas, modern "wild" horses descended from domesticated horses brought by European explorers and settlers that escaped and thrived.
Australia hosts a feral donkey population, as do the Virgin Islands and the Americ
Open range
In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out. Land in open range, designated as part of a "herd district" reverses liabilities, requiring an animal's owner to fence it in or otherwise keep it on the person's own property. Most eastern states and jurisdictions in Canada require owners to herd their livestock; the Western open-range tradition originated from the early practice of unregulated grazing in newly acquired western territories, codified in the laws of Western US states as they developed written statutes. Over time, as the Western lands became more developed the open range laws started to be challenged and were curtailed, but they still exist in certain areas of most western states. Open range conditions existed in Western Canada prior to amendments the Dominion Lands Act in 1889 which prohibited cattle from grazing on unleased land, though the practice did not disappear immediately.
Open range management has been practiced in other areas, such as Caribbean and the eastern state of South Carolina during the colonial period. The practice was used in Mexico, some argue it may have been the predecessor to the open range practice in the American West, which borrowed many other cattle raising techniques from Mexico. Unlike the eastern United States, the western prairies of the 19th century were vast and uncultivated, with scarce separated sources of water; until the invention of barbed wire in the 1870s, it was more practical to fence the livestock out of developed land, rather than to fence it in. As the United States government acquired western territories, land not yet placed into private ownership was publicly owned and available for grazing cattle, though conflicting land claims and periodic warfare with Native Americans of the Great Plains placed some practical limits on grazing areas at various times. Free-roaming range cattle calved, were moved between grazing lands, driven to market by cowboys.
Branding was used to identify cattle belonging to different owners. Unbranded cattle were known as "mavericks" and could become the property of anyone able to capture and brand the unmarked animal; the invention of barbed wire in the 1870s allowed cattle to be confined to designated areas to prevent overgrazing of the range. In Texas and surrounding areas, increased population required ranchers to fence off their individual lands; this brought considerable drama to western rangeland. Its invention made fencing huge expanses cheaper than hiring cowboys for handling cattle, indiscriminate fencing of federal lands occurred in 1880s without any regards to land ownership or other public needs, such as mail delivery and movement of other kinds of livestock. Various state statutes, as well as vigilantes, tried to enforce or combat fence-building with varying success. In 1885, federal legislation outlawed the enclosure of public land. By 1890, illegal fencing had been removed. In the north, overgrazing stressed the open range, leading to insufficient winter forage for the cattle and starvation during the harsh winter of 1886–1887, when hundreds of thousands of cattle died across the Northwest, leading to collapse of the cattle industry.
By the 1890s, barbed wire fencing was standard in the northern plains, railroads had expanded to cover most of the nation, meat packing plants were built closer to major ranching areas, making long cattle drives from Texas to the railheads in Kansas unnecessary. Hence, the age of the open range was gone and large cattle drives were over. Meanwhile, ranches multiplied all over the developing West. Where there are "open range" laws, people wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a legal fence to keep animals out, as opposed to the "herd district" where an animal's owner must fence it in or otherwise keep it on the person's own property. Most eastern states and jurisdictions in Canada require owners to herd their livestock. Many states in the west, e.g. Texas, are at least nominally still open-range states. In modern times, free roaming cattle can be a danger in developed areas. Most western states those that are nominally open at the state level, now limit open range to certain areas.
Under open range law today, if livestock break through a "legal fence" the livestock owner is liable for damages of the fenced property. Conversely, the livestock owner is not liable in the absence of the "legal fence." An exception exists for "unruly" animals meaning breeding bulls and stallions, which are supposed to be restricted by the owner. On roadways within an open range area, in a cow-car collision on a roadway, the rancher was at one time not liable, but recent law changes beginning in the 1980s increased rancher liability, first requiring cattle be kept off federal highways other developed roads, in some cases, limited open range grazing only to certain times of the year. In some states, such as Montana, case law on the open range has, for all practical purposes, eliminated it altogether, though statutes may remain on the books. Today, a vehicle has a much higher chance of hitting a wild animal than livestock. Laws are still in flux. In Arizona, livestock must be fenced in within incorporated areas, but are still listed only as a potential nuisance for unincorporated suburbs.
Therefore, in that state, bills are being pushed "to get rid of this antiquated law from 19th cen
