The Little and Grand Montrond

From birth, the Patou dog lives alongside sheep in the sheep-pen, which allows it to build a strong relationship with the herd. The Patou’s role is not to shepherd the herd, but rather to protect it from predator attacks (wild animals, stray dogs, etc.). Its presence and its large size prevent many attacks. The dog’s first reaction is to bark and to place itself between the intruder or intruders and the herd. If the intruders do not heed this warning, the dog may then launch a physical attack.

When you come across a protection dog, be calm and adopt a passive attitude. Do not shout, do not run, and do not threaten the dog with a stick, it could interpret this behaviour as an attack. Reassure the animal by placing your coat or your backpack between the dog and yourself. If you have a dog, keep it on-lead.

From the 1950s, touristic and sporting facilities became the features of a new landscape. Telecommunication relays, ski lifts, cable car “stations”, lodgings/restaurants built at the top of ski slopes transformed the mountain into a leisure area.

A visitor during the summer season, the northern wheatear settles in the Jura’s highest lawns. Visibly perched on a stone, dipping its tail, you will be able to best make out its white rump on one of its short flights. An insectivore, it hunts small insects to feed its chicks in a nest that it makes up on the ground.

The chamois does not occupy the same territory in summer as in winter. In the summer, this animal heads up to the high mountain summits and hides in the cliffs and screes. In the winter, bad climate conditions and the lack of food force it down to lower altitudes or ridge areas where snow is blown away by the wind.

Before the Second World War, and during high levels of Swiss and Italian migration, many pastures served to accommodate cattle from neighbouring countries. Herds of sheep, of which there were many between the two wars, and part of which were intended for sale in Geneva butcher shops, mainly grazed on the mountains south of the Crozet Pass. Today, sheep farmers are still active in the Jura mountains, like here, in the pastures of the Crozat chalet, where close to 600 animals graze during the summer.