Python TypeError, but symbol in question is not there [closed]

I am solving a USACO Bronze problem in Python. After writing my code and testing it, I got this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "c:\Users\13579\OneDrive\Documents\cod\cont.py", line 59, in <module>
    g = min(h, c)
        ^^^^^^^^^
TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'str' and 'int'

h and c are part of two for-loops (for h in canes, for c in cows)
The error states that the less than symbol cannot be used at that position, but there is no less than symbol on this line, and I don’t use it anywhere else in the code. What could cause this error?

I tried setting g to an integer by putting g = int(g) before the troublesome line, but this resulted in the same error. I changed the canes and cows lists to have integer values, but this did not change anything.

  • Please provide your code

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  • To compute min(h, c), Python has to compare them and it uses the < operator for that. What are the types of h and c?

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  • Are you trying to find the min between two strings? By “h in canes” do you mean it’s iterating through “canes”?

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  • 1

    h was a string. but c was not. I see that min needs to use the < operator. Thanks!

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  • 1

    to answer samsupertaco yes.

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