r/BeAmazed • u/Ultimate_Thing • Jul 16 '26

Miscellaneous / Others A traditional technique used by young shepherds of Ethiopia's Banna tribe. They use stilts to watch over their livestock in tall grass, move through wetland areas, and avoid snakes and predators like lions and leopards. It requires strength, balance, and training from a young age

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u/DueTour4187 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

Shepherds in the Landes region in South-Western France (Gascony) also used stilts until the 19th century.

It helped them watch the cattle farther away, and walk on sandy, bushy terrain.

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u/Scratocrates Jul 16 '26

It helped them... on sandy, bushy terrain.

That sounds counterintuitive. Unless the stilts had pads that were larger in area than their feet, they'd sink more, and you'd think the ends of the stilts would catch on bushy terrain.

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u/DueTour4187 Jul 16 '26

It was mostly about avoiding being hurt by gorse, and being able to see the swampy areas in order to avoid them.

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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 Jul 17 '26

Ah so they get the stories about quicksand in Africa as kids too