Since 1521, Florida became the first cattle-raising region of precolonial North America. These cowboys would eventually be known as 'cow hunters' due to the necessity of actively searching for their cattle herds in Florida's thick vegetation. The term 'Florida Cracker' came from these early cow hunters using a cow whip to find their herds by cracking a whip to locate them. It was important to keep the cows together within sight to protect them from predators such as alligators, panthers, and bears. Florida's Andalusian cattle became the ancestors of modern-day Texas longhorns.