Heath. Petorrí, Cepello

Heather is a plant that grows in Puig Campana. It is the plant that Manuel Mayor Rabasa, El Beato, has chosen in this month of July. It is very showy and its nectar makes one of the richest honeys, in addition to having many medicinal properties. The buckles of the packsaddles that were placed on the donkeys were also manufactured, when they were essential in the day-to-day life as pack animals.

Did you know???

It was considered in Celtic mythology as a symbol of good luck. The saying was: "If you see heather in the mountains, do not be afraid to return"

My branches, thrown into the fire, produce explosions, and in the past, they delighted the little ones, hence my Valencian name, "petorret, petorrí".

My flowers are often visited by bees. If they are dominant in the area, excellent heather honey is obtained, made from their nectar. Honey composed mainly of glucose and fructose. It contains numerous enzymes, mineral salts such as calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, etc. and trace elements, as well as proteins and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, E, K and C. The texture is more intense than the traditional one and its aroma is very intense. It provides more nutrients than sugar and is less fattening. It has countless medicinal properties:

Waiting, cautiously, among my flowers, we will find the crab spider. Its name is given by its resemblance to sea crabs. They go unnoticed, as they take on the same color as the flower they visit (white, pink, or yellow), allowing them to go unnoticed by their victims (bees, flies, and butterflies) and remain safe from predators.

They immobilize their prey with their front legs, which have spines, and then inoculate them with a lethal poison, to then suck them up, leaving their body intact. This mode of feeding is due to the fact that their jaws are not developed to be able to crumble them.

If I suffer a fire, I burn very easily, hence the saying: "Heather wood, sparks around the neck"; but it resprouted quickly, greening again shortly after.

My hardwood was used to build:

• the "garabato", a kind of buckle through which the girth (strap) that held the saddle of mules and donkeys was passed (1).
• The mouthpiece of the hookahs.
• Needles to sew leather or sacks, pierce the ears of the cattle, to label them, and thus be able to identify them.

* Packbard: pillow filled with straw that is placed on the animal's back so that the load does not hurt it.

*Hookah: smoking utensil consisting of a small bowl where chopped tobacco is burned, attached to a tube finished in a mouthpiece, through which the smoke is inhaled.

Trivia:

• The donkey (Equus africanus asinus), donkey, ruc, in Valencian.

I am a pet. They used me to transport firewood, stones, grass, water, etc.; for plowing; moving people, turning mill wheels and waterwheels, pulling carts, etc.

There are many sayings about me. Some say that "Big donkey, whether he walks or not" and others that "The donkey, which is the one who works, is only given straw and, as a gift, straw and grain are thrown at the horse". Throughout this writing you will still see some more.

However, the appearance of agricultural machinery and modern means of transport precipitated my retirement, which was well deserved, by the way.

Currently, my population has been considerably reduced. We have gone from being more than a million specimens in Spain, after the Civil War, to about 30,000 today, becoming in danger of extinction. Fortunately, they trust us again, since we are used to help children and adults with disabilities, also as a tourist attraction and even as a pet. And so it was said that "Better a donkey to take me, than a horse to knock me down".

We have been assigned an infinite number of adjectives: intelligent, when we say "Walking donkey, master of engineers", cautious, friendly, docile, noble, resistant, agile, grateful and somewhat stubborn, by the way. Thank you, but we don't feel worthy of so many compliments.

We are stubborn, I do not deny it, we shy away from performing those tasks that we consider to be dangerous to our integrity and we do not perform them under any circumstances, even if they cause us some punishment from our master: "Deu tot ho pot, menys fer beure a un burro, si este no volo".

I get angry on rare occasions, as I consider myself a "piece of bread." If this is the case, I defend myself from my aggressor by kicking with my hind legs or nibbling on him.

I do very well in high temperatures; however, he took the cold, the rain, the wind and the humidity terribly: "When the donkey moves its ear, take shelter under tile".

I communicate with my relatives through braying, which can be so loud that they can be heard about 3 km away. I usually do it preferably during mating times, which coincide with the arrival of spring. I also do it in case of alarm, in the presence of an intruder, such as wolves, foxes or feral dogs.

We usually sleep standing up or lying down. We sleep very little, about 3 hours a day.

We are very long-lived, and can reach 40 years, as long as we are treated with great affection and are well fed.

My hygiene is very important in my day-to-day life. So, I like to have my teeth brushed to avoid possible infections, to clean my paws, to straighten my hair, to keep my rooms clean...

I am very agile in rough terrain, however, I am not gifted for galloping like my brother the horse: "Foc de palla, i burro al trot, duren poc".

Let's talk about my body:

• I am small but robust, barely reaching a meter and a half in height.
• The usual color of my fur is ashy gray, although white is also present around my eyes, on the snout and on the belly. Other colors I can have are black and brownish.
• My head is bulky. I'm stubborn. My eyes are large and the ears are elongated, thin and mobile, with hair inside.
• I have a very developed sense of smell, sight and hearing, and that is why they say that "If the ears shake the donkey, safe water".
• My neck is thin. I have a mane (crest) on my head and neck, and it is poorly developed and rigid.
• My legs are thin. I have hooves instead of fingers.
• My tail is long with a kind of tassel at the end, with abundant loose hairs.

At least, but very often. I'm a vegetarian. I feed on all kinds of plants. My fiber-rich diet consists of grasses, alfalfa, hay, straw, fresh grass, stems, leaves, and everything else I encounter on my way. I drink little, and to compensate for this shortage, I consume salt, thus avoiding possible dehydration, especially in a season as hot as summer.

Mating can take place in any month of the year, although if I am given a choice of season, I prefer, without a doubt, spring, since I am terrible, as you know, the cold.

My partner's gestation lasts between 12 and 14 months. We have only one calf (colt) and rarely two twins appear. The calf is born very developed. She manages to stand up within minutes of her birth. Between the sixth and ninth month of life, weaning occurs, reaching sexual maturity at two years of age.

I am present in stories like "Pinocchio", where I am represented in a contemptuous way, considering myself ignorant, crude, unintelligent, without deserving it in any way.

I appear in literary stories: I am Sancho Panza's means of transport in the work "Ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha", by Miguel de Cervantes and I am the protagonist in "Platero y yo", by Juan Ramón Jiménez.

I also appear in religious representations, being a direct witness in the manger of the birth of the baby Jesus, on Palm Sunday, in the flight into Egypt of Jesus, etc.