Flora and fauna: Cat is a shepherd; your fruit is sweeter; the American Serengeti; wild boar for dinner; Vt. prefers cats

Bodacious loves his sheep.
(Photo by Jesse Hirsch, Modern Farmer)

You heard it here first. A cat in Ireland is a shepherd. "If you've ever owned (or met) a cat, the idea of using one like a sheepdog is absurd. Cats hate to be bossed, they're too puny to scare a sheep, and they'd much rather take a sunshine nap than run around doing farmwork. Even though they have evolved to recognize their owner's voices, studies say that they just don't care," yarns Jesse Hirsch for Modern Farmer. "Still, as cat shepherds go, Bodacious is at the top of his field. He's assisted in lamb births, barbed wire sheep rescues and hypothermia resuscitations, to name a few. His owner, Irish farmer Suzanna Crampton, says she could not function without him."

Do your "cotton candy" grapes taste as sweet as cotton candy? Is fruit sweeter now? "Yes, though the longer answer is more complicated. Some of the most powerful evidence that fruit is sweeter than before comes from zoos," reports Bee Wilson of The Wall Street Journal. "In 2018, it was reported that Melbourne Zoo in Australia had stopped giving fruit to most of its animals because cultivated fruit was now so sweet that it was causing tooth decay and weight gain. . . . Among fruit breeders, the word 'quality' is now routinely used as a synonym for 'high in sugar.'"

Where the buffalo roam: Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.
(Photo by Katie Butts, Fish and Wildlife Service, via the Revelator)

Efforts to bring back the American version of Africa's Serengeti Plain are underway. The project is "a call to protect and restore the northern Great Plains and the biodiversity it once held in great numbers. That includes swift foxes, beavers, river otters, bison, elk, pronghorn, black-footed ferrets, grizzly bears, wolves and numerous species of grassland birds," reports Tara Lohan of The Revelator. "In 2002, Curtis Freese helped launch the nonprofit American Prairie, which aims to establish a preserve of 3.2 million acres in northeast Montana. . . .The group's about halfway to its goal."

Wild hogs in a swamp near Slidell, Louisiana.
(Photo by Laura Prieto, Alamy via The Guardian)

Tired of wild boar committing rampant land destruction? Warm up the golden pipes, sing the ultimate Christmas carol, and then get ready for a feast. Here it goes: The boar's head in hand bring I, Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary. And I pray you, my masters, be merry, Quot estis in convivio ("As many as are at the feast"). "Some chefs, farmers and meat purveyors in southern wild-boar hotspots are bringing feral hogs into the food chain," reports Sara Ventiera of The Guardian. "They're transforming a nuisance species into a sustainable protein for human consumption. Chef Jesse Griffiths, co-owner of Dai Due and author of James Beard-winning The Hog Book and Afield, is one of the hospitality industry's biggest advocates for consuming wild hog." Menu ideas here.

It's raining cats and dogs. Well, maybe not raining, but there's a lot of 'em. "In most states, the percentage of households with pets is higher than the percentage of voters who voted in the last election. Dogs hold the lead in every state but Vermont," reports State Legislatures News. "And the percentages of cats and dogs don’t add up to 100% in any state due to the ownership of other pets that are neither feline nor canine. All those pets cost money, to the tune of $136.8 billion in 2022, according to the American Pet Products Association. Click meow to get the map.