Sheep's tootsies

On my rambles today I came upon the sight/site of a sheep's final resting place among the dry bracken behind an upland wall. These outdoor animals lead semi-natural lives and it's inevitable that a few succumb to diseases or infections, accidents or exposure, outwith the farmer's watchful eye.

As usual, the dismembered bones had been scattered by scavengers such as foxes, badgers, carrion crows and ravens, and, as usual too, being ever curious and singularly lacking in squeamishness, I stopped to examine the remains. I was intrigued to find several hooves: the horny keratin shells that cover the sheep's cloven feet. Each sheep possess 8 of these toe-cases although I could only locate 5 of them which I laid upon a nearby stone.

They brought back memories of the regular podiatry sessions required by the goats we once kept. Wielding a pair of secateurs, I would clamp the not-always co-operative beast against a wall and prune away the horny overgrowth that could lead to painful foot problems. (In their natural state goats frequent rocky surfaces that keep their hooves manicured.)

What I didn't know before today is that collections of these little sheep's hooves, and likewise those of goats and llamas, are used by the indigenous people in the Andes of Bolivia and Ecuador to make musical shakers called chapchas. And in Oman there is another percussion instrument called a mangur, a cloth belt on which hundreds of sheep hooves are fixed closely together and tied to the waist of a dancer to provide a rattling accompaniment.

I do so love it when serendipity leads to the acquisition of knowledge!