Kolyo Stayko shows the head of his shepherd’s crook as his sheep and goat herd grazes one morning on the mountainside near Chepelare, Bulgaria. Many herders in Bulgaria carve ornate heads on these ancient tools that are used to ensnare the leg of individual animals for capture and handling. The serpent symbolizes the earth, and the ram’s head and a wolf epitomize the intertwined lives of the animals – predator and prey – found in the wild of the Balkans.
