Goat Cleanup

[Edwin]

I read an article in the Seattle Times Travel section about goats cleaning up brush at the San Fransisco Airport. Goats will eat almost anything, whether it should be eaten or not. They will eat gardens, rose bushes, lilac shrubs bushes, and almost anything else. I had a friend years ago who told me that goats ate the cloth/canvas top off from an old car. But goats are very useful to clean up weeds and brush. This article tells about goats cleaning up part of the San Fransisco Airport to reduce the fire danger. It also tells about some other clean up jobs that goats are used for. In this article they said that the noise from the airplanes do scare the goats but that is where the herder and the dog comes in to calm the goats. Below is this goat article:

400 goats do a job at San Francisco airport
The herd of goats chomped on bushes in a far corner of San Francisco International Airport, clearing the brush in order to prevent fires. Chicago’s O’Hare may be next to go for goats.
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
Associated Press
Last month, officials at San Francisco International Airport hired a herd of part-time employees to toil on the west side of the property and engage in an unusual — but environmentally friendly — form of fire prevention.
Anyone looking down from a plane departing the airport may have wondered, what’s with the goats?
For two weeks in June, Mr. Fuzzy, Cookie, Mable, Alice and nearly 400 other goats chomped on the brush in a remote corner of the airport. The area needs to be cleared each spring to protect nearby homes from potential fires. But machines or humans can’t be used because two endangered species — the San Francisco garter snake and the California red-legged frog — live there.
It’s not exactly the type of job you advertise in the local classifieds. So, for the past five years officials have turned to Goats R Us, a small brush-removal company run by Terri Oyarzun, her husband Egon and their son Zephyr.
The airport paid $14,900 for the service this year.
The goats travel 30 miles each spring from their home in Orinda, Calif. to the airport in a 16-wheel truck that Oyarzun calls her “livestock limo.” They come with a goat herder and a border collie named Toddy Lynn. The goats spend two weeks cutting away a 20-foot firebreak on the west side of the airport.
“When passengers take off and fly over the goats, I’m sure that’s a thrill,” Oyarzun says.
Whatever the emotion, it isn’t reserved for air travelers. When Oyarzun’s goats aren’t clearing brush at the airport, they’re munching away on the side of California’s freeways, at state parks, under long-distance electric lines and anywhere else with overgrown vegetation. The family has about 4,000 total active goats on its payroll.
Working at an airport does come with its own set of challenges, namely loud, frightening jets constantly taking off.
“There was an adjustment period,” Oyarzun said. “But they have a lot of confidence in their herder.”
The goats did their job. “We’re pleased with our organic process for weed abatement,” said airport spokesman Doug Yakel.
At least one other airport has taken note. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has requested bids for goats to clear brush in an out of the way area of the airport’s 7,000-acre property and expects them to be at the airport sometime this summer.
When goats become too old to work, they are typically sold for meat. But fear not, Mr. Fuzzy, Cookie, Mable and Alice won’t end up at the slaughterhouse. The Oyarzun family lets its goats peacefully retire at its farm.
At least one part of air travel is still humane.

[Chas]

A Trust responsible for maintaining the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower ended up using goats to clear vegetation. The ancient ramparts would have been damaged by heavy machinery. It seems like everybody is a winner with this cost effective solution.

I understand that geese are good at keeping grass short. Maybe I should get some so I can stop mowing the lawn at my house

[Edwin]

Yes, Chas, goats do not mind eating their spinnich sp? They will eat almost anything, and that is what makes them so good at cleaning up. Our daughter has been in the American Indian families most of her adult life, married to some of them, running with some of them, and friends with most all of them. Anyway her friend was aware of 2 goats that were being neglected, not fed, not watered, so our daughter and her friend went and rescued the goats! The people were supposed to be taking care of the goats, but they were drunk most of the time instead of tending to business. Someone our daughter knew from her childhood actually owned the goats, so when he returned, and found out the goats had been removed, he was not too happy! Our daughter told him to come get the goats. He said he thought he would come get one of them, but he has not come, so the goats may be our daughter's forever! Our daughter has neighbors who really like her, so they told her to put the goats on her property, and let them eat her alfalfa and weeds. Someone drove by and saw the goats, and asked if our daughter would consider bringing the goats to there place, so the goats could eat off their empty lot of tall grass and weeds. They were in goat heaven! Anyway now our daughter has the goats back, and I think both of them will have baby goats shortly. The our youngest daughter bought a little goat from her sister, one of the twins, and she dearly loves that little Nubian goat! Shortly she may have many goats! Yes, everyone is a winner with the goats, and like you say, Chas, those goats step lightly, compared with other methods of vegitation removal.

Geese might be a great idea for you, Chas! When my Dad was in his early 20s before he married my Mom, he herded Geese in large vegitable gardens. The geese ate the grass and weeds, but they would not bother the vegetables. The young guy he was herding with got sick, because of being exposed to wet, damp, and raining weather, and that guy died, which was pretty sad. Also Chas, if u get geese in your yard/lawn they will let you know about intruders! They will go to honking like everything, and they can also be quick agressive, coming up and pinching people. They won't pinch you because they know you, but they may pinch your visitors, so you might have to put of a sign, "BE WARE OF MY GEESE!"