Lucy the Carabao walks about the Island. She often is seen carrying a dog on her back. She is very calm and patient with children wishing to pet her. Her owner is known at times to give children a ride on her back. Steve, David and Kaylee always get so excited to see her out on her walks. A "where's Lucy" of sorts.
The carabao is considered a national symbol of Guam. They were imported from the Philippines in the late 17th century during the Spanish colonial administration of Guam as a beast of burden and as a means of transportation. They were used for farming and to pull "carabao carts." As recently as the early 1960s, carabao races were a popular sport in the island, especially during fiestas.
Today, carabaos are a part of the popular culture in this American territory. Carabaos are often brought to carnivals or other festivities and used as a popular ride for kids. Carabao meat is sometimes eaten as a delicacy, although this is not common these days.
The carabao (Filipino: kalabaw; Malay: kerbau) or Bubalus bubalis carabanesis is a domesticated subspecies of the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) found in the Philippines, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and various parts of Southeast Asia. Carabaos are associated with farmers, being the farm animal of choice for pulling both a plow and the cart used to haul produce to the market.
Carabaos are indigenous to Southeast Asia. Adult carabaos weigh seven to eight hundred kilograms—almost 2,000 pounds—and have fairly long gray or black hair thinly covering their huge bodies. They have a tuft of hair on their forehead, and at the tip of their tail. Normally, they are silent and docile, but they will give a trembling snort if they are surprised.
Both male and female have massive horns. Since the carabao has no sweat glands, it cools itself by lying in a waterhole or mud during the heat of the day. Mud, caked on to its body, also protects it from bothersome insects.
The carabao eats grass and other vegetation, feeding mainly in the cool of the mornings and evenings. In some places of the world the carabao is a source of milk just like the cow, or it may be slaughtered for its hide and its meat. Its life span is 18 to 20 years and the female carabao can deliver one calf each year.
(Text taken from wikipedia.com)
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